Development of a Decision Support System for Solving Container Loading Problems

Abstract

Abstract. e globalization of supply chains and rising fuel costs are forcing container carriers both to minimize the number of trips and to maximize available container space. is makes container loading (CL) a critical process especially in real-life applications. Container loading (CL), which is a di cult problem to be solved, has many applications in container transportation and distribution industries. is article presents a container loading support system (CLSS). e proposed CLSS composes of three main components, including a hybrid Bees Algorithm as the main computational algorithm, the graphical user interface (GUI) and a simulation program. e aim of the designed system is to make the packing pattern more visible to the user in order to simplify the loading process. An illustrative examplea CL problem from literature -is also provided to introduce the operation of the system and to prove its e ciency.

A hybrid ‘bee(s) algorithm’ for solving container loading problems

“…3. In the proposed filling procedure, the empty spaces are filled in the following order: first the empty space 'in front' of the packed box is filled, then empty spaces 'beside' and 'above' the packed box is filled respectively [13,14].…”

“…The procedure is repeated until it is not possible to locate a new layer to the remaining container width or when the set of available boxes is empty. As a result of this packing process, the container is filled with the isolated vertical layers where spanning of the boxes between layers is avoided [14].…”

A Modified Artificial Bee Colony for Solving the Container Loading Problem

“…The three dimension Container loading problem is NP-hard [5,6,20]. The issue can be described as follows: Given a set of n items with width (w i ), depth (d i ) and height (h i ) and a single container with known dimensions (W, D, H) where w i ≤ W, h i ≤ H and d i ≤ D, the problem is to pack items into the container without overlapping to maximize the utilization rate of the container [2,7,25]. The single container loading problem is a three dimensional packing problem in which a large rectangular box (the container) has to be filled with smaller rectangular boxes of different sizes.…”

“…The procedure is repeated until it is not possible to locate a new layer to the remaining container width or when the set of available boxes is empty. As a result of this packing process, the container is filled with the isolated vertical layers where spanning of the boxes between layers is avoided [7].…”

“…3. In the proposed filling procedure, the empty spaces are filled in the following order: first the empty space 'in front' of the packed box is filled, then empty spaces 'beside' and 'above' the packed box is filled respectively [3,7].…”