The Benefits of Using Aldep and CRAFT Together for Optimal Facility Layout Design
What is Aldep Automated Layout Design Program.epub?
Facility layout design is one of the most important aspects of operations management. It involves arranging the physical space and equipment in a way that optimizes the flow of materials, people, information, and energy within a facility. A good facility layout can improve productivity, quality, safety, customer satisfaction, and profitability.
Aldep Automated Layout Design Program.epub
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However, facility layout design is also a complex and challenging task. It requires considering many factors such as the size and shape of the facility, the number and type of departments, the interdepartmental relationships, the material handling costs, the processing times, the demand patterns, etc. Moreover, facility layout design is often subject to changes due to technological innovations, market fluctuations, organizational restructuring, etc.
Therefore, facility layout designers need effective tools and methods to help them generate and evaluate different layout alternatives. One of these tools is Aldep Automated Layout Design Program.epub, which stands for Automated Layout Design Program. It is a computerized algorithm that can create and assess various layouts based on the input data provided by the user.
In this article, we will explain what Aldep is, how it works, what are its advantages and disadvantages, how it can be combined with other algorithms for better results, and how it can be applied to real-world problems and scenarios. By the end of this article, you will have a better understanding of Aldep Automated Layout Design Program.epub and its value for facility layout design.
Thesis statement: Aldep is a powerful and flexible computerized algorithm that can generate and evaluate different layout alternatives based on the relationship between departments and the size of the facility.
How does Aldep work?
Aldep is based on the idea that the layout of a facility should reflect the closeness or proximity between the departments. The closer the departments are, the lower the material handling costs and the higher the efficiency. Therefore, Aldep tries to place the departments that have a high degree of interaction or similarity next to each other, and the departments that have a low degree of interaction or similarity far from each other.
To do this, Aldep follows these basic steps:
Input data: The user provides the following data to Aldep:
The length and width of the facility.
The number and type of departments.
The size and shape of each department.
The relationship matrix or closeness rating between each pair of departments. This can be expressed in numerical or qualitative terms, such as A (absolutely necessary), E (especially important), I (important), O (ordinary importance), U (unimportant), or X (undesirable).
Initial layout: Aldep creates an initial layout by placing the departments randomly within the facility boundaries. This layout serves as a starting point for further improvement.
Placement criteria: Aldep uses two criteria to decide where to place each department:
The total closeness rating (TCR), which is the sum of the closeness ratings between a department and all other departments in the layout. The higher the TCR, the more desirable the location of the department.
The aspect ratio (AR), which is the ratio between the length and width of a department. The closer the AR to 1, the more square-shaped the department. The closer the AR to the AR of the facility, the more rectangular-shaped the department. Aldep tries to match the AR of each department with the AR of the facility as much as possible.
Evaluation criteria: Aldep uses two criteria to evaluate the quality of a layout:
The total material handling cost (TMHC), which is the product of the distance and frequency of movement between each pair of departments. The lower the TMHC, the better the layout.
The total closeness rating deviation (TCRD), which is the difference between the actual TCR and the ideal TCR for each department. The ideal TCR is calculated by multiplying the closeness rating by the number of departments. The lower the TCRD, the better the layout.
Output layout: Aldep generates an output layout by placing each department one by one according to the placement criteria, and then improving it iteratively by swapping or shifting departments according to the evaluation criteria. Aldep stops when no further improvement is possible or when a predefined number of iterations is reached.
To illustrate how Aldep works, let us consider a simple example with four departments: A, B, C, and D. The input data are as follows:
Department Length Width A B C D --------------------------------------- A 10 10 - A E I B 20 10 A - I O C 10 20 E I - U D 20 20 I O U - The facility has a length of 40 units and a width of 40 units. The AR of the facility is 1. The ideal TCR for each department is calculated as follows:
Department Ideal TCR ----------------------- A 12 B 10 C 10 D 8 An initial layout can be created by placing the departments randomly within the facility boundaries, such as this one:
+----------------------------------------+ +----------------+ +-----------------------+ +-----------------------+ +----------------+ +----------------+ +----------------+ +----------------+ +----------------+ +----------------+ +----------------+ +----------------+ +----------------+ +----------------+ +----------------------------------------+ A: (0,0)-(10,10) B: (0,10)-(20,20) C: (20,0)-(30,20) D: (20,20)-(40,40) 71b2f0854b