Delft University of Technology
Faculty Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering Transport Technology
R. Riemens Implementatie van een methode voor de belading van een pallet. Computer program, Report 94.3.LT.4249, Transport Engineering and Logistics.
Rectangular packing and cutting problems in one, two and three dimensions have practical applications and that is why a lot of research on those methods has been done.
In this practical work the main problem is that of finding an optimal layout for identical rectangular boxes on a rectangular pallet. Practical considerations usually mean that the boxes must be placed orthogonally (i.e. with the box edges parallel to the pallet edges). The vertical orientation of the boxes is fixed. These restrictions mean that the problem is reduced to the two-dimensional problem of packing a large amout of boxes, orthogonally, with identical copies of a small rectangle.
The complexity of the problem produces a lot of problems. Finding optimal layouts with exact methods takes much time, a heuristic approach has therefor been chosen for the computer program. A disadvantage is that the program is limited in the dimensions of the boxes and pallet. But this is of less
importance. The main goal is to learn about the subject pallet loading. If there is a commercial reason for using such pallet programs, implementing exact methods has to be considered, because these methods can produce better results.
Reports on Transport Engineering and Logistics (in Dutch)
