ROADEF 2022: 3D Truck Loading

Abstract: The ROADEF challenge, hosted by the French Operations Research and Decision Support Society (ROADEF) and EURO, is a bi-annual competition for researchers and practitioners in the field of optimization. The 2022 challenge features a 3D truck loading problem in collaboration with industrial partner Renault Group. Here, the goal is to combine a set of items into stacks and load these into trucks, as to minimise total transportation and inventory costs. We have developed a scalable column generation heuristic for this problem, in which the pricing problems correspond to single truck loading problems. We heuristically solve these problems using a labelling algorithm on a dynamically defined stack graph. We warm-start the algorithm using the solution from a simple assignment problem, which also provides lower bounds on the optimal solution, and perform several post-optimisation steps. In this talk we present our methodology and the results of the first round of the challenge. We conclude with an overview of directions in which we aim to improve the algorithm, aiming to stimulate an open and interactive discussion.

About: Bart van Rossum and Rick Willemsen are PhD students at the Econometric Institute of Erasmus University Rotterdam.