A Solution of the Container Stacking Problem by Genetic Algorithm

Abstract

Abstract-This paper proposes a developed simulation model for stacking containers in a container terminal through developing and applying a genetic algorithm (GA) for containers location assignment with minimized total lifting time and increased service efficiency of the container terminals. The application obtained from the genetic algorithm shows the appropriate containers location assignment based on the arrival of containers at a container terminal and correlates it with the order of the containers loaded onto container ships. The solutions from the genetic algorithm were used in the model application. Observations were made on container total lifting time using the simulation model based on a genetic algorithm for finding the best configuration of containers in a bay and the solution of simulation based on the First-In, First-Storage (FIFS) rule. Experimental results showed that the simulation model based on the genetic algorithm is more efficient than the simulation model based on the FIFS rule.

Solutions To Storage Spaces Allocation Problem for Import Containers by Exact and Heuristic Methods

“…Several cases have been proposed using GA, among them in [15,11,1,20,14,21]. The authors Park and Seo in the article [15] solved the planar storage location assignment problem, which consists in to store import and export containers by minimizing the number of obstructive object movements or reshuffles.…”

“…Sriphrabu et al [20] solved a simulation model for stacking containers applying a GA. They minimize the total lifting time and increased service efficiency of the container terminals.…”

“…Several authors have reported solutions to the Storage Space Allocation Problem (SSAP) [10,1,19,20,5,14,21,2]. Authors have used different exact and heuristic methods.…”

Smart container stacking in the yard

“…Ceyhun Guven et al (2014) stated that the yard is a temporary storage area where containers remain until transported to their next location by truck, train or vessel. According to Phatchara Sriphrabu et al (2013), container stacking is a major problem at a container terminal because the container location assignment affects the operating time of the container terminal. Chuanyu Chen et al said that the decisions on the storage locations of containers directly affect the allocation and scheduling of yard cranes, the dispatching of the prime movers and indirectly affect the efficiency of Quay cranes.…”

“…This is the main reason of other problems which occur like delay in operational time at the terminal, cost increases and late container's delivery etc. Phatchara Sriphrabu et al (2013) stated that a relocation is most important to storage and pickup operation in block stacking because it affects the handling cost. According to Niraj Ramesh Dayama et al (2014), the total cost incurred in container handling operations is the sum of the (vertical) stack rearrangement costs and the (horizontal) crane movement cost.…”