Layout method for grouping locations with same relation of distances

Many previous researches for the Quadratic Assignment Problem (QAP) have been proposed and applied to several layout problems. Tabu Search setting up `tabu list' is one of the effective approaches in these researches. This paper proposes a heuristic method making use of the main features of Tabu Search for QAP. A suboptimal solution should be efficiently obtained by the proposed method which sets up some restricted and forbidden conditions under various situations. The algorithm in this method is coded in C language. Through a numerical example, steps of the algorithm are shown. The effectiveness of obtained solutions is investigated by the computational experiences.