A fast optimization approach for a complex real-life 3D Multiple Bin Size Bin Packing Problem

Katrin Heßler, Timo Hintsch and Lukas Wienkamp

European Journal of Operational Research, 2025, vol. 327, issue 3, 820-837

Abstract: We investigate a real-life air cargo loading problem which is a variant of the three-dimensional Variable Size Bin Packing Problem with special bin forms of cuboid and non-cuboid unit load devices (ULDs). Packing is constrained by additional practical restrictions, such as load stability, (non-)stackable items, and weight distribution constraints. To solve the problem, we present an insertion heuristic embedded into a Randomized Greedy Search. The solution space is limited by only considering certain candidate points (so-called extreme points), which are promising positions to load an item. We extend the concept of extreme points proposed in the literature and allow moving extreme points for non-cuboid ULDs. A special sorting of the items, which combines a layered structure and free packing, is suggested. Moreover, we propose dividing the space of each ULD into smaller cells to accelerate the collision, non-floating, and stackability check while loading items. In a computational study, we analyze individual algorithm components and show the effectiveness of our method on adapted real-life instances from the literature.

Keywords: Packing; Air transport; Three-dimensional bin packing; Heuristics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ejores:v:327:y:2025:i:3:p:820-837

DOI: 10.1016/j.ejor.2025.05.016

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