A container packing support system for determining and visualizing container packing patterns

Abstract

Relatively few approaches have been developed to solve the container-packing problem despite its important industrial and commercial applications. This study constructs a container packing support system capable of incorporating the computational algorithm, graphic user interface (GUI) input/output interface, and a simulation program for illustrating the container packing process in steps. A numerical example is used to illustrate the proposed container packing support system. We use real data to compare the solutions derived by the proposed algorithm with those of a greedy algorithm and the original solutions of a local transportation company. The results demonstrate the effectiveness and practical viability of this approach. © 2002 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.