Hope: A genetic algorithm for the unequal area facility layout problem

In this paper we outline a GA based algorithm for solving the single-floor facility layout problem. We consider departments of both equal and unequal sizes. The GAs performance is evaluated using several lest problems available in the literature. The results indicate that GA may provide a better alternative in a realistic environment where the objective is to find a number of "reasonably good" layouts. The implementation also provides the flexibility of having fixed departments and to interactively modify the layouts produced. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. Ail rights reserved.