Facility layout selection is an important and critical issue faced by every organization, while setting up and allocating the available or new facilities in a given location. While selecting the most suitable layout, due attention is usually paid to minimize the total transportation cost between different facilities. The importance of an effective facility layout design for efficient and smooth operation of an organization cannot be overlooked. It is well-recognized that a suitably designed facility layout represents the backbone of an organization and should be carefully organized. Placement of the available or new facilities within a selected area is a complex task for the designer, which requires the fulfilment of several conflicting objectives. It is therefore important for an organization to evaluate, design and select the most suitable layout for its functional effectiveness. Selecting the best facility layout for an industrial application from a finite set of candidate alternatives is an example of Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) problem. In this paper, two real time examples of facility layout selection are presented to demonstrate the applicability of a highly potential MCDM method, i.e., PROMETHEE (Preference Ranking Organization METHod for Enrichment Evaluation). It is observed that the rankings of the alternative layouts obtained using the PROMETHEE II method almost match with those derived by the past researchers, which proves the potentiality of this method to solve such type of complex MCDM problems.

The decision regarding the selection of the most suitable facility layout has become one of the most important and challenging issues in today's highly competitive business and manufacturing environment (Tompkins and White, 1984). The decision maker has to consider the facility layout selection problems while expanding the existing production capacity, setting of a new production line or setting up of a new plant. The best layout is to be selected, keeping in mind various criteria/attributes affecting the layout selection decision-making problem and also the requirements of the organization. Hence, selecting the most appropriate facility layout design from a finite set of possible alternatives for a given industrial application is really a difficult task. Usually, the problem of layout selection aims at minimizing the total transportation cost between different facilities so that the necessary materials and services can move uninterrupted within the entire organization. It will be a major setback for the organization, if the problems, such as backtracking, congestion, disturbed flow pattern etc., start functioning within the organization due to poor and unplanned layout. Thus, the facility layout selection decision becomes a strategic issue for an organization and has significant impact on its overall effectiveness and performance.

There are several quantitative and qualitative criteria, like material handling distance, adjacency score, shape ratio, flexibility, accessibility, maintenance etc., which directly affect the facility layout selection decision. Among these criteria, some are beneficial in nature which are to be maximized, whereas, others are non-beneficial whose minimum values are always preferable. Selection of the most suitable facility layout for a given industrial application is considered as an example of Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) problem, requiring the fulfilment of all the conflicting criteria. Various MCDM methods, like Simple Additive Weighting (SAW), Weighted Product Method (WPM), Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS), Graph Theory and Matrix Approach (GTMA), Grey Relational Analysis (GRA), Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), Elimination and Et Choice Translating Reality (ELECTRE) etc., are already available to give an effective framework for evaluating the alternatives and selecting the best one. Other combinatorial optimization techniques, such as Simulated Annealing (SA), Genetic Algorithm (GA), Ant Colony Optimization (ACO), Tabu search etc., are also successfully used to solve the layout selection problems. Suitable computer packages and expert systems are also developed to solve the layout selection problems and graphically generate the best layout.

Although a good amount of research works has already been carried out over the past years on facility layout evaluation and selection, there is still enough scope to implement other simple and logical mathematical tools to solve such type of complex decision-making problems involving multiple conflicting criteria and alternatives. In this paper, an attempt is made to discover the applicability and potentiality of such a highly potential MCDM method, i.e., Preference Ranking Organization METHod for Enrichment Evaluation (PROMETHEE II) while selecting the best facility layout for a given industrial application. Two real time facility layout selection problems are cited and solved using the PROMETHEE II method.

Operations Management Journal, PROMETHEE II Method, Multi-Criteria Decision-Making, Preference Ranking Organization METHod for Enrichment Evaluation, PROMETHEE, Ant Colony Optimization, Genetic Algorithm, Decision-Making Problems, Industrial Applications, Weighted Product Method, Analytic Hierarchy Process, Global Environment.