Modular Allocation Technique (MAT)

The major problem in “layout” is to determine the most economical relative location of facilities. MAT is a construction technique utilizing the distances between all pairs of locations and the loads transported between all pairs of facilities per unit time to approximate the optimal allocation of the facilities to the locations. The MAT general algorithm, an example problem and a theorem relating the MAT solution to the optimal solution are given. A computer program has been written that will apply MAT to the allocation problem for a maximum of 40 facilities.