Article ID: | iaor2010209 |
Volume: | 16 |
Issue: | 1 |
Start Page Number: | 1 |
End Page Number: | 22 |
Publication Date: | Feb 2010 |
Journal: | Journal of Heuristics |
Authors: | Parreo F, Tamarit J M, Oliveira J F, Alvarez-Valdes R |
Keywords: | containers |
This paper presents a Variable Neighborhood Search (VNS) algorithm for the container loading problem. The algorithm combines a constructive procedure based on the concept of maximal-space, with five new movements defined directly on the physical layout of the packed boxes, which involve insertion and deletion strategies. The new algorithm is tested on the complete set of Bischoff and Ratcliff problems, ranging from weakly to strongly heterogeneous instances, and outperforms all the reported algorithms which have used those test instances.