Allowing for weight considerations in container loading

Only very few of the existing container loading algorithms include in their logic any references to the weight or the load bearing abilities of the items to be stowed. The paper aims to make a contribution to overcoming this shortcoming. It shows how a procedure which has already been evaluated in some detail in the literature can be adapted in a fairly straightforward manner to deal with fragility considerations. The approach suggested is based on opportunity cost notions. It is demonstrated that the results obtained can be vastly superior to a procedure which considers load bearing ability merely in terms of a constraint on the packing options available at each stage. Additional refinements of the basic approach and questions related to its practical implementation are also discussed, as are possible extensions to enable ‘soft’ positioning rules to be incorporated.