Extreme-Point-based Heuristics for the Three-Dimensional Bin Packing problem

One of the main issues in addressing three-dimensional packing problems is finding an efficient and accurate definition of the points at which to place the items inside the bins, because the performance of exact and heuristic solution methods is actually strongly influenced by the choice of a placement rule. We introduce the extreme point concept and present a new extreme point-based rule for packing items inside a three-dimensional container. The extreme point rule is independent from the particular packing problem addressed and can handle additional constraints, such as fixing the position of the items. The new extreme point rule is also used to derive new constructive heuristics for the three-dimensional bin-packing problem. Extensive computational results show the effectiveness of the new heuristics compared to state-of-the-art results. Moreover, the same heuristics, when applied to the two-dimensional bin-packing problem, outperform those specifically designed for the proble

TS2PACK: A Two-Level Tabu Search for the Three-dimensional Bin Packing Problem

Three-dimensional orthogonal bin packing is a problem NP-hard in the strong sense where a set of boxes must be orthogonally packed into the minimum number of three-dimensional bins. We present a two-level tabu search for this problem. The first-level aims to reduce the number of bins. The second optimizes the packing of the bins. This latter procedure is based on the Interval Graph representation of the packing, proposed by Fekete and Schepers, which reduces the size of the search space. We also introduce a general method to increase the size of the associated neighborhoods, and thus the quality of the search, without increasing the overall complexity of the algorithm. Extensive computational results on benchmark problem instances show the effectiveness of the proposed approach, obtaining better results compared to the existing one

CE21004

Coordination of the survey was initiated at the meeting of the Working Group on International Pelagic Surveys (WGIPS) in January 2021 and continued by correspondence until the start of the survey. During the survey effort was refined and adjusted by the survey coordinator (Norway) using real time observations. The survey design was based on methods described in ICES Manual for International Pelagic Surveys (ICES, 2015). Weather conditions were regarded as exceptionally poor and all vessels experienced multiple days of downtime, with the exception of the Spanish vessel working in the Porcupine Seabight. This considered, the stock was covered comprehensively and contained within the survey area. The entire survey was completed in 19 days, below 21-day target threshold

International Blue Whiting Spawning Stock Survey (IBWSS) Spring 2023

Coordination of the survey was initiated at the meeting of the Working Group on International Pelagic Surveys (WGIPS) in January 2023 and continued by correspondence until the start of the survey. During the survey, effort was refined and adjusted by the survey coordinator (Norway) using real time observations

International Blue Whiting Spawning Stock Survey (IBWSS) Spring 2024

Coordination of the survey was initiated at the meeting of the Working Group on International Pelagic Surveys (WGIPS) in January 2024 and continued by correspondence until the start of the survey. During the survey, effort was refined and adjusted by the survey coordinator (Norway) using real time observations

A two-stage packing problem procedure

This paper deals with a two-stage packing problem that has to be solved in the daily distribution process of a Portuguese trading company. In the first stage, boxes including goods are to be packed on pallets, while in the second stage these pallets are loaded into one or more trucks. The boxes have to be transported to different customers, and the main goal is to guarantee a sufficient utilization of the truck loading space. A two-stage packing procedure is proposed to cover both problem stages. First, boxes are loaded onto pallets by means of a well-known container loading algorithm. Then, trucks are filled with loaded pallets by a tree search algorithm. The performance of the two-stage approach was evaluated using a set of instances that are based on actual company data.publishe

International Blue Whiting Spawning Stock Survey Spring 2010

Use the URI link below to search the Marine Institute Data Discovery Catalogue for datasets relevant to this report.In spring 2010, five research vessels representing the Faroe Islands, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway and Russia surveyed the blue whiting spawning grounds to the west of the UK and Ireland. International co-operation allows for wider and more synoptic coverage of the stock and more rational utilisation of resources than uncoordinated national surveys. The survey was the seventh coordinated international blue whiting spawning stock survey since 2004. The primary purpose of the survey was to obtain estimates of blue whiting stock abundance in the main spawning grounds using acoustic methods as well as to collect hydrographic information. Results of all the surveys are also presented in national reports (F. Nansen: Rybakov et al. 2010; C. Explorer: O’Donnell et al. 2010; M. Heinason: Jacobsen et al. 2010; Tridens: Couperus et al. 2010) This report is based on correspondence undertaken after the International survey by all participants and during the post cruise meeting held in Bergen from May 3-4 with participation from Ireland and Norway

International Blue Whiting Spawning Stock Survey (IBWSS) Spring 2012

Coordination of the survey was initiated in the meeting of the Working Group on Northeast Atlantic Pelagic Ecosystem Surveys (WGNAPES, ICES 2011) and continued by correspondence until the start of the survey. During the survey, updates on vessel positions and trawl activities were collated by the survey coordinator and distributed to the participants twice a day. The survey design used and described in ICES (2011) allowed for a flexible setup of transects and good coverage of the spawning aggregations. Due to favourable weather conditions throughout the survey period and full vessel availability, the survey resulted in a high quality coverage of the stock. Transects of all vessels were consistent in spatial coverage and timing, delivering full coverage of the respective distribution areas within 2 weeks

CE19005

Coordination of the survey was initiated at the meeting of the Working Group on International Pelagic Surveys (WGIPS) in January 2019 and continued by correspondence until the start of the survey. During the survey effort was refined and adjusted by the survey coordinator (Norway) using real time observations. The survey design was based on methods described in ICES Manual for International Pelagic Surveys (ICES, 2015). Overall weather conditions were mixed with periods of poor and good weather. All vessels experienced some downtime due to poor weather conditions. The entire survey was completed in 26 days, above the 21-day target threshold. However, the survey start was delayed by almost one week compared to 2018 and included additional effort by the Spanish survey in the Porcupine Sea bight

International Blue Whiting Spawning Stock Survey Spring 2011

In spring 2011, five research vessels representing the Faroe Islands, European Union (Ireland and the Netherlands), Norway and Russia surveyed the blue whiting spawning grounds to the west of the UK and Ireland. International co-operation allows for wider and more synoptic coverage of the stock and more rational utilisation of resources than uncoordinated national surveys. The survey was the eighth coordinated international blue whiting spawning stock survey since 2004. The primary purpose of the survey was to obtain estimates of blue whiting stock abundance in the main spawning grounds using acoustic methods as well as to collect hydrographic information. Results of all the surveys are also presented in national reports (F. Nansen: Rybakov et al. 2011; C. Explorer: O’Donnell et al. 2011; M. Heinason: Jacobsen et al. 2011; Tridens: Fässler et al. 2011). This report is based on correspondence undertaken after the international survey by all participants and during the post cruise meeting held in Copenhagen from April 27-29, with representatives from all participating nations present