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

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 with or better than the best-known solutions, while finding these solutions very quickly. Computer-independent complexity results are provided.