The multiple container loading cost minimization problem

Chan Hou Che, Weili Huang, Andrew Lim and Wenbin Zhu

European Journal of Operational Research, 2011, vol. 214, issue 3, 501-511

Abstract: In the shipping and transportation industry, there are several types of standard containers with different dimensions and different associated costs. In this paper, we examine the multiple container loading cost minimization problem (MCLCMP), where the objective is to load products of various types into containers of various sizes so as to minimize the total cost. We transform the MCLCMP into an extended set cover problem that is formulated using linear integer programming and solve it with a heuristic to generate columns. Experiments on standard bin-packing instances show our approach is superior to prior approaches. Additionally, since the optimal solutions for existing test data is unknown, we propose a technique to generate test data with known optimal solutions for MCLCMP.

Keywords: Packing; Heuristics; Container; loading; Integer; programming; Design; of; experiments (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (14)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ejores:v:214:y:2011:i:3:p:501-511

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