Int. J. Product Development, Vol. 10, Nos. 1/2/3, 2010 165 Copyright © 2010 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. An artificial immune system-based algorithm to solve linear and loop layout problems in flexible manufacturing systems R.M. Satheesh Kumar*, P. Asokan and S. Kumanan Department of Production Engineering National Institute of Technology Tiruchirappalli-620 015, Tamil Nadu, India Fax: +91–431–2500133 E-mail: rm_satkumar@yahoo.co.in E-mail: asokan@nitt.edu E-mail: kumanan@nitt.edu *Corresponding author Abstract: The Facility Layout Problem (FLP) is concerned with the arrangement of facilities in a given location and is one of the well-explored problems in the field of combinatorial optimisation. Both linear and loop layouts are widely preferred configurations in Flexible Manufacturing Systems (FMSs) because of their materials handling flexibility and agility in accommodating new parts and processes. This paper considers both single-row and loop layout problems in FMSs. The problem is modelled as a Quadratic Assignment Problem (QAP). The Artificial Immune System (AIS) algorithm is employed to solve this problem. The effectiveness of the AIS algorithm is tested and validated through benchmarking problems. The results show that the AIS approach performs well in all test problems. In addition, the single-row and loop layout problems are compared based on the objective of minimising the materials handling cost. Keywords: flexible manufacturing system; FMS; artificial immune system; AIS; clonal selection; single-row layout; SRL; loop layout. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Satheesh Kumar, R.M., Asokan, P. and Kumanan, S. (2010) ‘An artificial immune system-based algorithm to solve linear and loop layout problems in flexible manufacturing systems’, Int. J. Product Development, Vol. 10, Nos. 1/2/3, pp.165–179. Biographical notes: R.M. Satheesh Kumar is a PhD scholar at the Department of Production Engineering of the National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, India. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Master’s in Industrial Engineering. His research focuses on facility layout and optimisation. His PhD research involves the design of FMS layouts using evolutionary approaches. Dr. P. Asokan is a Professor of Production Engineering at the National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, India. He holds a BE (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering, an ME in Manufacturing Technology and a PhD in Production Engineering. He has published more than 25 research articles in international journals. His research interests include optimisation techniques and layout design.