A hybrid 'bee(s) algorithm' for solving container loading problems

This paper presents a hybrid algorithm to solve container loading problems in which the aim is to load a set of rectangular items (boxes) into a single rectangular large object (container) in order to maximize the total volume of packed boxes. The algorithm is obtained by hybridizing a heuristic filling procedure with a new population based optimization algorithm, namely; 'bee(s) algorithm' (BA). Inspired from the algorithm introduced by [40], the proposed BA algorithm is designed to work with discrete variables. For this purpose, different operators (to reach neighborhood solutions) are used. The proposed hybrid BA algorithm is tested in the context of two well-known sets of test problems available in the literature. Implications of the results are also discussed. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.