MEE1018 Facilities and process planning

CORELAP (Computerized Relationship Layout Planning) algorithm

Input requirements
 Number of departments and their area
 Closeness relationship as given by REL chart
 Weighted ratings for REL chart entries
Optional input information
 Scale of input
 Building length to width ratio
 Department pre-assignment
General approach is to select the most critical department first, and place it at the center of the
layout. After the first department is placed, then the department having highest closeness
relationship with the departments which are already placed is selected and placed in the best
location adjacent to the previously placed departments. Final score of the layout is developed by
suing the closeness values and rectilinear distances between all pairs of departments.
Steps:
S1: For each department i, a total of all its closeness ratings with the other departments in the
layout is calculated.
Total Closeness Rating (TCR) = ∑𝑛𝑗=1 𝑅𝑖𝑗

where 𝑅𝑖𝑗 is the rating of the relationship between department i and j and n is the total
number of departments in the layout
S2: The department having the greatest TCR is selected to be placed in the layout. For simplicity, let
us call this department as department 1.
S3: Next, the Relationship Diagram or Chart is referred to find out if there is any department with
an A relationship with the department 1. If so, it is placed next to the department 1 in the layout. If
there is no department found with an A rating, then we have to search for a department with an E
rating. If even an E rating is not found, we have to look down the rating scale for a department
having an I rating with department 1; and if I rating is not found, then for an O rating. If we do not
find even an O rating, then a department (unassigned yet) with the highest TCR is selected for
placement next to the department 1
Note: Ties are always broken by choosing the department which has the highest TCR. With the same
TCR, the selection has to be done based on the largest area.
S4: The third department is chosen as follows: An attempt is made to look for any department
(unassigned) which has an A relationship with department 1. If any such department is found, it is
assigned in the layout close to department 1. If such A relationship is not found with department 1
we check if it is to be found with department 2. If it is, that department is assigned a place next to
department 2 in the layout.
S5: S4 is continued until all the departments are placed in the layout.
Application:
Basic data
Area of departments and scale
Assume 1 square = 6,000 sq.m

Department Area (sq.m) No. of squares

1 12,000 2
2 8,000 1
3 6,000 1
4 12,000 2
5 8,000 1
6 12,000 2
7 12,000 2
Total 70,000 11
REL chart and closeness values

From
1 -
2 E -
3 O U -
4 I E U -
5 O I U I -
6 U I O U A -
7 U U U U I E -
To 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Closeness values
A=6 E=5 I=4 O=3 U=2 and X=1
S1: Total closeness rating (TCR)
Department Closeness relationship TCR
1 E+O+I+O+U+U = 5+3+4+3+2+2 19
2 E+U+E+I+I+U = 5+2+5+4+4+2 22
3 O+U+U+U+O+U = 3+2+2+2+3+2 14
4 I+E+U+I+U+U = 4+5+2+4+2+2 19
5 O+I+U+I+A+I = 3+4+2+4+6+4 23
6 U+I+O+U+A+E = 2+4+3+2+6+5 22
7 U+U+U+U+I+E = 2+2+2+2+4+5 17
S2: Department with the largest TCR is selected for the first placement. In case of ties, the
department with the largest area is selected. Department 5 is selected.
S3: Review the closeness relationships of department 5 with other departments.
Closeness:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
O I U I - A I
Department 6 is selected as the second in the placement order.
S4: Scan the REL chart for the closeness values for the unassigned departments with department 5.
Closeness of department 5:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
O I U I - - I
None of the unassigned departments has an A closeness with department 5. Check the closeness of
unassigned departments with department 6 (next in the placement order).
Closeness of department 6:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
U I O U - - E
None of the unassigned departments has an A closeness with department 6. Check whether any of
the unassigned departments has an E relationship with the departments already placed in the
layout. Department 7 has an E relationship with department 6 and hence it is placed third in the
placement order.
S5: Repeat the procedure of S4 with the unassigned departments.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Closeness of department 5 with O I U I - - -
Closeness of department 6 with U I O U - - -
Closeness of department 7 with U U U U - - -
Departments 2 and 4 have an I closeness with department 5. Department 2 (TCR = 22) is selected as
fourth in the placement order.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Closeness of department 5 with O - U I - - -
Closeness of department 6 with U - O U - - -
Closeness of department 7 with U - U U - - -
Closeness of department 2 with E - U E - - -
Departments 1 and 4 have E relationship with department 2. Both have the same TCR (19). Area of
both the departments (1 and 4) is equal (12,000 sq.m). Select department 1 randomly and is placed
fifth in the placement order.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Closeness of department 5 with - - U I - - -
Closeness of department 6 with - - O U - - -
Closeness of department 7 with - - U U - - -
Closeness of department 2 with - - U E - - -
Closeness of department 1 with - - O I - - -
Department 4 has the highest closeness value (4) with department 2 and is placed sixth in the order.
Department 3 is placed as the last in the order.
Now, the placement order is 5, 6, 7, 2, 1, 4 and 3.
Placement of departments in the layout
First department 5 is placed at the center of the layout
05
The second department from the list is placed adjacent to the first department, i.e., place
department 6 (2 squares) adjacent to department 5.
06 06
05
Department 7 is to be placed next in the layout. It can be seen that there are many arrangements in
which department 7 can be placed.
To aid evaluation of different placing alternatives, placing rating (PR) is calculated.
Placing rating is the sum of the weighted closeness ratings between the entering department and its
new neighbours.
The following weighted closeness rating values are used
Closeness relationship Weighted rating
Preassigned 729
A 243
E 81
I 27
O 9
U 1
X -729
Department 7 has 2 squares. The following placements are possible.
07 07
06 06 06 06 07 06 06
05 05 07 07 07 05
(PR = 81) (PR = 108) (PR = 108)
Out of the two arrangement with PR = 108, the third arrangement is selected.
Next, department 2 is selected. Department 2 has 1 square.
Department 2 has PR = 28 if placed adjacent to departments 6 and 7. All other arrangements will
have PR less than 28.
02 06 06
07 07 05
Department 1 is placed next. It has 2 squares. It is placed adjacent to departments 2 and 6 with PR =
82.
01 01
02 06 06
07 07 05

Department 4 with 2 squares is placed next. It is placed adjacent to departments 1 and 2 with PR =
108.
04 01 01
04 02 06 06
07 07 05
Department 3 with 1 square is placed next to departments 1 and 6 with PR = 18.
Final layout
04 01 01 03
04 02 06 06
07 07 05
Total score of the layout
Total Score = ∑𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑝𝑎𝑖𝑟𝑠(𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 × 𝐿𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑝𝑎𝑡ℎ)

The path is calculated by the rectilinear distance from the border of one department to the border
of another department. If two departments are adjacent, they will have common border. The path
length will be zero.
Department Department Distance Closeness Score
1 2 0 - -
1 3 0 - -
1 4 0 - -
1 5 2 3 6
1 6 0 - -
1 7 1 2 2
2 3 2 2 4
2 4 0 - -
2 5 2 4 8
2 6 0 - -
2 7 0 - -
3 4 2 2 4
3 5 1 2 2
3 6 0 - -
3 7 2 2 4
4 5 3 4 12
4 6 1 2 2
4 7 1 2 2
5 6 0 - -
5 7 0 - -
6 7 0 - -
Total 46
Note:
One can repeat the procedure with different scales and pick up the best layout with the minimum
score.

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