Title: The distributor's three-dimensional pallet-packing problem: a human intelligence-based heuristic approach

Authors: Erhan Baltacioglu, James T. Moore, Raymond R. Hill Jr.

Addresses: Hava Kuvvetleri Komutanligi, Plan Prensipler Bsk.ligi 06100 Bakanlyklar, Ankara, Turkey. ' Department of Operational Sciences, Air Force Institute of Technology, ENS Bldg 641, 2950 Hobson Way, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH 45433-7765, USA. ' Department of Biomedical, Industrial and Human Factors Engineering, 207 Russ Engineering Center, 3640 Colonel Glenn Hwy, Dayton, OH 45435-0001, USA

Abstract: The distributor|s pallet-packing problem requires the loading of a pallet or container that has a fixed length, width and height with the objective to maximise utilisation of the pallet|s volume. We develop a new heuristic algorithm using novel heuristic rules and a dynamic data structure to mimic human intelligence, thus providing a new solution approach to 3-D pallet packing. Comprehensive empirical testing, to include new methods for generating problems with known optimal solutions, demonstrate that our algorithm achieves pallet volume utilisations comparable or better than the best-known solutions, while finding these solutions very quickly. Computer-independent complexity results are provided.

Keywords: heuristics; 3-D pallet packing; pallet loading; operational research; human intelligence.

DOI: 10.1504/IJOR.2006.009300

International Journal of Operational Research, 2006 Vol.1 No.3, pp.249 - 266

Published online: 15 Mar 2006 *

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