| Article ID: | iaor1991232 |
| Country: | Netherlands |
| Volume: | 44 |
| Issue: | 2 |
| Start Page Number: | 277 |
| End Page Number: | 288 |
| Publication Date: | Jan 1990 |
| Journal: | European Journal of Operational Research |
| Authors: | Gehring H., Menschner K., Meyer M. |
| Keywords: | heuristics |
Subject of this paper is how to pack rectangular boxes of different size in a shipping container of known dimensions. The problem is to determine positions for placing the boxes in the container such that the inevitable waste of space is minimized. For this three-dimensional cutting-stock problem various suboptimal solutions are generated using the proposed computer-based heuristic. The number of solutions and the most suitable stowage plan are decided by the decision maker. The procedure is illustrated with numerical examples.