A multi-start random constructive heuristic for the container loading problem

• Autor(a) principal: Araújo,Olinto César Bassi de
• Data de Publicação: 2007
• Outros Autores: Armentano,Vinícius Amaral
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Pesquisa operacional (Online)
• Texto Completo: http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0101-74382007000200007
• topic: container loading; cuboid arrangement; multi-start random constructive heuristic

This paper deals with the container loading problem which involves the selection of a subset of boxes, each box with a given volume, such that they fit in a single container and maximize its volume utilization subject to orientation and stability constraints. We propose a multi-start random constructive heuristic with a load arrangement that is based on maximal cuboids that fit in given empty spaces. Each instance is adaptively evaluated by a set of criteria, and at each step of the construction process one maximal cuboid is chosen probabilistically from a restricted list of candidates. In order to enhance the flexibility in the construction of a solution, a probabilistic reduction on such cuboids is allowed. Computational tests on several instances from the literature show that the proposed method performs better than other approaches.