A min-max ANT colony algorithm for machine loop layout problem

This paper handles a problem of loop machine layout using one load and unload machine. The goal of this problem is to minimize the total cost of transporting parts within each manufacturing cell. The novelty of this study is based on the reformulation of the problem taking into consideration new variables which are generally neglected by recent researches like proximity constraints and machine dimensions. Hence, we aim to place these machines on a grid that represents the surface of the cell, in order to construct a loop layout while respecting proximity constraints. This new formulation led us to propose a two-stage approach to solve this problem. The first step consists in positioning the machines on a grid while respecting the proximity constraints and machines dimensions. The second step aims to optimize the path between these machines already positioned in order to minimize number of the loops travelled by parts. In this paper, the second step will be the center of our interesting. To solve this problem, we use ant colony optimization algorithm. The effectiveness of our approaches is demonstrated through numerical examples.

[1]  Luca Maria Gambardella,et al.  MACS-VRPTW: a multiple ant colony system for vehicle routing problems with time windows , 1999 .

[2]  Luca Maria Gambardella,et al.  Ant colony system: a cooperative learning approach to the traveling salesman problem , 1997, IEEE Trans. Evol. Comput..

[3]  T. Stützle,et al.  MAX-MIN Ant System and local search for the traveling salesman problem , 1997, Proceedings of 1997 IEEE International Conference on Evolutionary Computation (ICEC '97).

[4]  P. S. Ward.  ANTS , 1889, Science.

[5]  Z. Michalewicz,et al.  A new version of ant system for subset problems , 1999, Proceedings of the 1999 Congress on Evolutionary Computation-CEC99 (Cat. No. 99TH8406).

[6]  Richard F. Hartl,et al.  D-Ants: Savings Based Ants divide and conquer the vehicle routing problem , 2004, Comput. Oper. Res..

[7]  Erhan Kozan,et al.  Ant Colony Optimisation for Machine Layout Problems , 2004, Comput. Optim. Appl..

[8]  Hartmut Schmeck,et al.  Ant colony optimization for resource-constrained project scheduling , 2000, IEEE Trans. Evol. Comput..

[9]  Michael Sampels,et al.  Ant Algorithms for the University Course Timetabling Problem with Regard to the State-of-the-Art , 2003, EvoWorkshops.

[10]  S. Kumanan,et al.  Design of loop layout in flexible manufacturing system using non-traditional optimization technique , 2008 .

[11]  Daniel Merkle,et al.  Ant Colony Optimization with Global Pheromone Evaluation for Scheduling a Single Machine , 2004, Applied Intelligence.

[12]  Alex Alves Freitas,et al.  Data mining with an ant colony optimization algorithm , 2002, IEEE Trans. Evol. Comput..

[13]  Holger H. Hoos,et al.  An ant colony optimisation algorithm for the 2D and 3D hydrophobic polar protein folding problem , 2005, BMC Bioinformatics.

[14]  Luca Maria Gambardella,et al.  An Ant Colony System Hybridized with a New Local Search for the Sequential Ordering Problem , 2000, INFORMS J. Comput..

[15]  Barbaros Ç. Tansel,et al.  Move based heuristics for the unidirectional loop network layout problem , 1998, Eur. J. Oper. Res..

[16]  Ouajdi Korbaa,et al.  Intra-cell machine layout associated with flexible production and transport systems , 2003 .

[17]  Ouajdi Korbaa,et al.  Machine layout problem in FMS design , 2001, 2001 IEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics. Proceedings (Cat. No.01TH8556).

[18]  Alain Hertz,et al.  Ants can colour graphs , 1997 .

[19]  Andreas C. Nearchou,et al.  Meta-heuristics from nature for the loop layout design problem , 2006 .

[20]  Thomas Stützle,et al.  A Comparison Between ACO Algorithms for the Set Covering Problem , 2004, ANTS Workshop.

[21]  Christine Solnon,et al.  Searching for Maximum Cliques with Ant Colony Optimization , 2003, EvoWorkshops.

[22]  Mitsuo Gen,et al.  Loop layout design problem in flexible manufacturing systems using genetic algorithms , 1998 .

[23]  Christine Solnon,et al.  Ants can solve constraint satisfaction problems , 2002, IEEE Trans. Evol. Comput..

[24]  Marco Dorigo,et al.  Ant system: optimization by a colony of cooperating agents , 1996, IEEE Trans. Syst. Man Cybern. Part B.

[25]  Matthijs den Besten,et al.  Ant Colony Optimization for the Total Weighted Tardiness Problem , 2000, PPSN.

[26]  Henri Pierreval,et al.  Facility layout problems: A survey , 2007, Annu. Rev. Control..

[27]  Christian Blum,et al.  New metaheuristic approaches for the edge-weighted k-cardinality tree problem , 2005, Comput. Oper. Res..

[28]  Thomas Stützle,et al.  MAX-MIN Ant System , 2000, Future Gener. Comput. Syst..

[29]  J. Leung.  A graph-theoretic heuristic for designing loop-layout manufacturing systems , 1992 .

[30]  Vittorio Maniezzo,et al.  Exact and Approximate Nondeterministic Tree-Search Procedures for the Quadratic Assignment Problem , 1999, INFORMS J. Comput..

[31]  Feristah Ozcelik,et al.  Unidirectional Loop Layout Problem with Balanced Flow , 2006, IEA/AIE.

[32]  Yeong-Dae Kim,et al.  Layout planning for facilities with fixed shapes and input and output points , 2000 .

[33]  Panos Afentakis,et al.  A loop layout design problem for flexible manufacturing systems , 1989 .

[34]  Christine Solnon,et al.  Solving Permutation Constraint Satisfaction Problems with Artificial Ants , 2000, ECAI.

[35]  Jose Miguel Puerta,et al.  Ant colony optimization for learning Bayesian networks , 2002, Int. J. Approx. Reason..

[36]  Christian Blum,et al.  Beam-ACO - hybridizing ant colony optimization with beam search: an application to open shop scheduling , 2005, Comput. Oper. Res..