A mixed integer programming model for a double row layout problem

Abstract This paper presents the double row layout problem which determines an arrangement of machines on either side of a central corridor so that the total material moved is minimized when the material handling path is the straight line along the corridor. We propose a mixed integer programming (MIP) model which modifies a recently proposed model in the literature by introducing tighter constraints. For the performance comparison, models in the literature and the new model that we propose are tested to solve 26 well known instances and two additional instances introduced in this paper. Computational results show that the new model performs remarkably well compared with the models in the literature. Specifically, the new model solves larger problems, and the shortest processing time is obtained by the new model for all instances.