Application of the Analytic Network Process to facility layout selection

• First time the Analytic Network Process (ANP) method is applied to the selection of the best facility layout plan.
• The model is built taking into account the interdependencies between criteria which has not been done before.
• Limit priorities are computed which identify the most important factors in the selection process.
• A case study is conducted in a wood factory which represents a real demonstration of the developed model.
• A comparison is conducted between ANP and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) which shows the differences between the two methods.

This paper applies the Analytic Network Process (ANP) method to the selection of the best facility layout plan based on multiple dependent and independent criteria. This is the first time that this method is used in such a context. An ANP model is built taking into account the interdependencies between criteria that are found based on experts’ opinions and fundamental equations. A network structure is built that shows all elements and clusters and their interactions that can be used to find the most effective layout. Limit priorities are computed which identify the most important factors in the selection process. A case study is conducted in a wood factory which represents a real demonstration of the developed model. A comparison is conducted between ANP and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) which shows the differences between the two methods. Finally, sensitivity analysis shows the robustness of the model.