Three-dimensional packing of items with limited load bearing strength

A new heuristic approach is put forward for tackling container loading problems where the cargo involved has varying degrees of load bearing strength. In such cases the placement rules must ensure that the weight resting on an item remains below the maximum it can withstand without suffering crushin...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inEuropean journal of operational research Vol. 168; no. 3; pp. 952 - 966
Main Author Bischoff, E.E.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01.02.2006
Elsevier
Elsevier Sequoia S.A
SeriesEuropean Journal of Operational Research
Subjects
Container loading
Containers
Heuristic
Heuristics
Operations research
Optimization algorithms
Packing
Random search
Studies
Packing
Container loading
Heuristics
Random search
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:A new heuristic approach is put forward for tackling container loading problems where the cargo involved has varying degrees of load bearing strength. In such cases the placement rules must ensure that the weight resting on an item remains below the maximum it can withstand without suffering crushing damage. The construction heuristic proposed is embedded in a search algorithm which seeks to optimise the parameter settings of the procedure. Limiting the time required to produce a good solution and the amount of technical expertise needed by the user are key considerations. The approach is evaluated in a series of tests against benchmarks from the literature. The results demonstrate that it outperforms other approaches which have been suggested for this type of problem and that it also performs well on problems where load bearing strength is not an issue. Potentially useful extensions of the work are discussed.
ISSN:0377-2217
1872-6860
DOI:10.1016/j.ejor.2004.04.037