System reliability-redundancy allocation by the multiobjective plant propagation algorithm

Purpose Increasing the system reliability is one of the most important concerns in an industrial plant to become competitive. However, focusing on the overall system reliability increases the overall design cost. The problem is investigated as a multiobjective optimization problem. Design/methodology/approach It implements the Multiobjective Plant Propagation Algorithm (PPA), also known as the Strawberry Algorithm for the system reliability-redundancy allocation problem. Findings The Pareto set of a pharmaceutical plant involving ten subsystems connected in series is generated in order to highlight the applicability of the algorithm. Research limitations/implications Limitations include the study of two objective functions. Practical implications It allows the decision-maker to select the best solution according to his target. Originality/value This work represents the first implementation of the multiobjective PPA for solving the multiobjective system reliability optimization in the literature.