This study addresses the integrated problem of facility layout planning and line-side material feeding operations for a new filling plant under construction at a large petrochemical company. The filling plant comprises multiple filling lines, also called machines, with varying container sizes and filling speeds, stretch wrappers, and a picking conveyor system, all designed from scratch as part of a major capacity-expansion project. Due to the technical complexity and multi-disciplinary nature of the project, a sequential solution approach is adopted, decomposing the problem across three decision levels: strategic layout design, tactical capacity determination, and operational feeding planning. In the tactical phase, a discrete-event simulation model developed in Rockwell ARENA evaluates the performance of the proposed layout under alternative stretch wrapper processing speeds and conveyor speeds, measuring stretch wrapper utilization, pallet queue length and waiting time, and total production completion time. In the operational phase, a greedy-type constructive heuristic algorithm generates replenishment schedules and assigns forklifts to feeding trips under three alternative assignment policies: resource minimization, fair workload distribution, and dedicated assignment. Experiments across eight production plan scenarios reveal that the stretch wrapper processing speed has a more decisive impact on system performance than conveyor speed, and that the proposed layout with appropriately configured stretch wrappers eliminates pallet congestion. The heuristic results demonstrate consistent forklift requirements across production plans and highlight trade-offs between resource minimization and workload balance. The study contributes a structured, industry-validated decision framework applicable to greenfield filling plant design.  

Keywords

Facility layout planning, Discrete-event simulation, Material feeding operations, Constructive heuristic, In-plant logistics.