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Modeling and Analysis of Congestion in the Design of Facility Layouts

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  • Saifallah Benjaafar

    (Division of Industrial Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455)

Abstract

Reducing manufacturing lead times and minimizing work-in-process (WIP) inventories are the cornerstones of popular manufacturing strategies such as Lean, Quick Response, and Just-in-Time Manufacturing. In this paper, we present a model that captures the relationshipbetween facility layout and congestion-related measures of performance. We use the model to introduce a formulation of the facility layout design problem where the objective is to minimize work-in-process (WIP). In contrast to some recent research, we show that layouts obtained using a WIP-based formul ation can be very different from those obtained using the conventional quadratic assignment problem (QAP) formulation. For example, we show that a QAP-optimal layout can be WIP-infeasible. Similarly, we show that two QAP-optimal layouts can have vastly different WIP values. In general, we show that WIP is not monotonic in material-handling travel distances. This leads to a number of surprising results. For instance, we show that it is possible to reduce overall distances between departments but increase WIP. Furthermore, we find that the relative desirability of a layout can be affected by changes in material-handling capacity even when travel distances remain the same. We examine the effect of various system parameters on the difference in WIP between QAP- and WIP-optimal layouts. We find that although there are conditions under which the difference in WIP is significant, there are those under which both layouts are WIP-equivalent.

Suggested Citation

  • Saifallah Benjaafar, 2002. "Modeling and Analysis of Congestion in the Design of Facility Layouts," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 48(5), pages 679-704, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:48:y:2002:i:5:p:679-704
    DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.48.5.679.7800
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. M. Eric Johnson & Margaret L. Brandeau, 1996. "Stochastic Modeling for Automated Material Handling System Design and Control," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 30(4), pages 330-350, November.
    2. Saif Benjaafar & Sunderesh S. Heragu & Shahrukh A. Irani, 2002. "Next Generation Factory Layouts: Research Challenges and Recent Progress," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 32(6), pages 58-76, December.
    3. Kouvelis, Panagiotis & Kiran, Ali S., 1991. "Single and multiple period layout models for automated manufacturing systems," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 52(3), pages 300-314, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Loiola, Eliane Maria & de Abreu, Nair Maria Maia & Boaventura-Netto, Paulo Oswaldo & Hahn, Peter & Querido, Tania, 2007. "A survey for the quadratic assignment problem," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 176(2), pages 657-690, January.
    2. Chiang, Wen-Chyuan & Kouvelis, Panagiotis & Urban, Timothy L., 2006. "Single- and multi-objective facility layout with workflow interference considerations," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 174(3), pages 1414-1426, November.
    3. George Polak, 2005. "On A Special Case of the Quadratic Assignment Problem with an Application to Storage-and-Retrieval Devices," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 138(1), pages 223-233, September.
    4. Cochran, Jeffery K. & Marquez Uribe, Alberto, 2005. "A set covering formulation for agile capacity planning within supply chains," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(2), pages 139-149, February.
    5. Pourvaziri, Hani & Pierreval, Henri, 2017. "Dynamic facility layout problem based on open queuing network theory," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 259(2), pages 538-553.
    6. Asef-Vaziri, Ardavan & Kazemi, Morteza, 2018. "Covering and connectivity constraints in loop-based formulation of material flow network design in facility layout," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 264(3), pages 1033-1044.
    7. Asef-Vaziri, Ardavan & Kazemi, Morteza & Eshghi, Kourosh & Lahmar, Maher, 2010. "An ant colony system for enhanced loop-based aisle-network design," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 207(1), pages 110-120, November.
    8. Aida Saez-Mas & Julio J. Garcia-Sabater & Jose P. Garcia-Sabater & Julien Maheut, 2020. "Hybrid approach of discrete event simulation integrated with location search algorithm in a cells assignment problem: a case study," Central European Journal of Operations Research, Springer;Slovak Society for Operations Research;Hungarian Operational Research Society;Czech Society for Operations Research;Österr. Gesellschaft für Operations Research (ÖGOR);Slovenian Society Informatika - Section for Operational Research;Croatian Operational Research Society, vol. 28(1), pages 125-142, March.
    9. Silva, Allyson & Coelho, Leandro C. & Darvish, Maryam, 2021. "Quadratic assignment problem variants: A survey and an effective parallel memetic iterated tabu search," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 292(3), pages 1066-1084.
    10. Peter Hahn & J. MacGregor Smith & Yi-Rong Zhu, 2010. "The Multi-Story Space Assignment Problem," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 179(1), pages 77-103, September.
    11. Sergio Chayet & Wallace J. Hopp, 2008. "Risk‐sensitive sizing of responsive facilities," Naval Research Logistics (NRL), John Wiley & Sons, vol. 55(3), pages 218-233, April.
    12. Min Zhang & Rajan Batta & Rakesh Nagi, 2009. "Modeling of Workflow Congestion and Optimization of Flow Routing in a Manufacturing/Warehouse Facility," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 55(2), pages 267-280, February.
    13. Kuldeep Lamba & Ravi Kumar & Shraddha Mishra & Shubhangini Rajput, 2020. "Sustainable dynamic cellular facility layout: a solution approach using simulated annealing-based meta-heuristic," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 290(1), pages 5-26, July.
    14. Asef-Vaziri, Ardavan & Jahandideh, Hossein & Modarres, Mohammad, 2017. "Loop-based facility layout design under flexible bay structures," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 193(C), pages 713-725.

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