Machine Layout Design through Particle Swarm Optimization in Indian Industry

By : G. S. Dangayach, Himanshu Bhatt, Sumit Gupta, M. L. Meena

Page No: 13-31

Abstract
The article aims at assigning the machines of the crankshaft line of an automotive company to the related optimum locations within the floor plan along with determining the number of components that the machines should produce per day, ultimately minimizing the total material handling cost involved. Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), a meta-heuristic technique, is employed to solve a mathematical model concerning the machine layout problem, modelled as Quadratic Assignment Problem (QAP). A coding is done for basic and modified PSO technique in Matrix Laboratory (MATLAB) environment and the program on running resulted in a cost savings of 19.3 percent and 20.6 percent, respectively, per day per line. The proposed values of distances, frequency and material handling cost are compared with the existing values of the same. Furthermore, the execution time and the quality of solution were observed to be altering with change in particle size and number of iterations.

Authors :
G. S. Dangayach : Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, MNIT, Jaipur;
Himanshu Bhatt : Project and Maintenance Engineer, Bhushan Steel Limited, Odisha.
Sumit Gupta : Research Scholar, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Malaviya National Institute of Technology (MNIT), Jaipur.
M. L. Meena : Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Malaviya National Institute of Technology (MNIT), Jaipur