A tree search method for the container loading problem with shipment priority

Jidong Ren, Yajie Tian and Tetsuo Sawaragi

European Journal of Operational Research, 2011, vol. 214, issue 3, 526-535

Abstract: This paper addresses a special kind of container loading problem with shipment priority. We present a tree search method, which is based on a greedy heuristic. In the greedy heuristic, blocks made up of identical items with the same orientation are selected for packing into a container. Five evaluation functions are proposed for block selection, and the different blocks selected by each evaluation function constitute the branches of the search tree. A method of space splitting and merging is also embedded in the algorithm to facilitate efficient use of the container space. In addition, the proposed algorithm covers an important constraint called shipment priority to solve practical problems. The validity of the proposed algorithm is examined by comparing the present results with those of published algorithms using the same data.

Keywords: Packing; Container; loading; problem; Heuristic; Tree; search; Shipment; priority (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ejores:v:214:y:2011:i:3:p:526-535

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