A Heuristic Algorithm Based on DBR and MAS for Solving Container Loading Problem

The container loading problem, a real hard problem, is usually difficult to obtain even a suboptimal solution because of not only multiple complicated restrictions but also of multiple objectives. In this paper, a heuristic algorithm is proposed for solving the container loading problem in real-world. The algorithm is based on Drum-Buffer-Rope presented in the theory of constraints and the multi-agent cooperation negotiation model. A particular attention is focused on improving the constrained agent by striving for the trade-off of restrictions and cooperated negotiations, so that the final solution can arrive its biggest profit