Two-phase hybrid particle swarm optimization applied to the double row layout problem

Abstract

The double-row layout problem (DRLP) consists in determining the location of facilities along both sides of a central corridor, with the objective of minimizing the weighted sum of the distances between all pairs of facilities. Facilities can be machines, work centers, manufacturing cells, building departments and robots in manufacturing systems. This paper proposes a purely heuristic approach, based on Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) metaheuristic. To validate the proposed algorithm, it was submitted to computational tests with fifty-one instances, including instances considered large and the results found show the PSO as an excellent approach for DRLP having improved the known values for several instances available in the literature.