a Facility Layout Design Methodology for Retail Environments

Abstract

Based on an overall consideration of the principles and characteristics in designing a retail area layout, this research is the first work to integrate aisle structure design, block layout, which is specific department placement, and intra-block departmental layout, which is detailed fixture layout design, as a whole process. The main difference between previous research and this proposed research is the formulation of mathematical models that can be specified applied in the retail sector. Unlike manufacturing, in retail environments, the design objective is profit maximization. This is accomplished by maximizing the area exposure, optimizing the adjacency preference of all departments, and adjusting the intra-block layout and evaluating the effectiveness of layout design.