Computerized Jobshop Layout Planning

Abstract

The multitude of feasible arrangements of work centres in a jobshop can be viewed as a finite statistical population. The model presented here uses computer simulation to generate and evaluate samples from this population, with the objective of obtaining some observations from the vicinity of the over-all optimum. The practical importance of layout planning follows from two conditions, viz. the omnipresence of jobshops in industrialized countries 'such as S.A., and the high portion of manufacturing costs which may in these instances be ascribed to materials handling, i.e. directly to the quality of the plant layout. Accordingly, this model was designed to satisfy a very real practical need.