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Optimal design of fair layouts

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Abstract

A relevant logistic issue in the organization of a fair is to determine how stands have to be placed in the exhibition space so as to satisfy all constraints on security, ease of access, services, and so on, while maximizing the revenues coming from the exhibitors. We consider in particular the problem of allocating the maximum number of stands by satisfying all the constraints required by practical implementations. We examine a number of real-world cases, and show how basic mathematical programming models can be improved to handle specific requests from the organizers. We report the solutions obtained through an original decision support system, that embeds a number of algorithms to solve the various cases by reduction to one or more linear programs.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the GRAPHVS CONS. COM & REP. LTDA, the Universidade Estadual do Ceará, Fortaleza (Brazil), and the Ministero dell’Istruzione, dell’Università e della Ricerca (Italy). We also thank the ALFA PROJECT, under grant II-0457-FA-FCD-F1-FC. Their support is gratefully acknowledged. Thanks are due to Ana Mércia (Municipality Environmental Manager), Sérgio Pinheiro (Fortaleza Tourism Municipality Secretary) and Francisco Carlos Simões (President of the Beira Mar Fair Association, ASFABEM) for their kind support during the execution of the tests on the Fortaleza fair. Thanks are due to Valter Franceschini (President of the Fiere di Reggio Emilia), Manuela Maccagnani and Lisa Bianchini, for their help during the execution of the tests on the Reggio Emilia case study. We finally thank two anonymous referees for helpful comments that considerably improved the presentation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Federal University of Ceará, Av. Mister Hull, Pici, Fortaleza, Ceará, 60455-760, Brazil

    Albert E. Fernandes Muritiba

  2. DISMI, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Via Amendola 2, 42122, Reggio Emilia, Italy

    Manuel Iori

  3. DEIS, University of Bologna, Viale Risorgimento 2, 40136, Bologna, Italy

    Silvano Martello

  4. State University of Ceará, Av. Paranjana, 1700, Fortaleza, Ceará, 60740-903, Brazil

    Marcos J. Negreiros Gomes

Authors
  1. Albert E. Fernandes Muritiba
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  2. Manuel Iori
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  3. Silvano Martello
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  4. Marcos J. Negreiros Gomes
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Silvano Martello.

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Fernandes Muritiba, A.E., Iori, M., Martello, S. et al. Optimal design of fair layouts. Flex Serv Manuf J 25, 443–461 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10696-011-9123-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10696-011-9123-2

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