Minimization of the Rearrangement of a Block Stockyard Based on the Genetic Algorithm

Due to its large size, a ship is first divided into scores of blocks and then each block is constructed through various shops, such as the assembly shop, the painting shop, and the outfitting shop. However, each block may not be directly moved to the next shop and may be temporarily laid on a block stockyard because the working time in each shop is different. If blocks are laid on the block stockyard without any planning, the rearrangement of the blocks by a transporter are required because the blocks have the different in and out time. In this study, an optimal layout method based on the genetic algorithm was proposed in order to minimize the rearrangement of the blocks in the block stockyard. To evaluate the applicability of the proposed method, it was applied to a simple layout problem of the block stockyard.