Multiple criteria approach to the facilities layout problem

Thin paper presents a multiple criteria model for combining quantitative and qualitative approaches to plant layout. The quantitative factor (work flow) is weighted by the qualitative factor (closeness rating) to form the model. The objective is to minimize the total weighted work flow volume between departments. An heuristic approach is used on an initial layout to improve it in a multiple puss step-by-step pairwise exchange. The results indicate that the model does an excellent job, especially in separating those departments which have an undesirable closeness rating.