Design of Dynamic Distributed Layouts

We develop a procedure for the design of distributed layouts in a multiple period setting, where product demand and product mix may vary from period to period. We allow for multiple copies of the same department type to be placed in non-adjoining locations and for flow allocation among department duplicates to be made based on the demand for each period. We also allow for the possibility of a relayout at the end of each period. Therefore, our objective is to design layouts for each period that balance relayout costs between periods with material flow efficiency in each period. We present a mu lti-period model for jointly determining layout and flow allocation and offer a decomposition-based solution procedure. We use our solution procedure to examine the effectiveness of distributed layouts for varying levels of relayout costs, number of planning periods, number of products, and routing and demand variability.