Solving the design of distributed layout problem using forecast windows: A hybrid algorithm approach

► An alternative approach for designing a multi-period layout (i.e., distributed layout) that maintains a tradeoff between re-layout cost and cost of excess material handling. ► A meta-heuristic, named 'CSO-DLP' (is developed for designing a distributed layout that jointly determines the arrangement of department and flow allocation among them. ► The proposed meta-heuristic is applied on a benchmark dataset and the effect of system parameters, such as rearrangement cost, department disintegration, and duplication are investigated and benchmarked in this paper.