Packing to Perfection
Two new models, based on recent research from NC State University, aim to optimize spatial usage while accounting for item priority, location and weight distribution. The researchers believe that their model provides fast, high-quality solutions to both military and commercial logistics challenges.
True masters of packing know that it’s about more than merely making everything fit into the space available.
The key is to pack with unpacking in mind. Then, you can easily retrieve essentials when you need them most. If rain is in the forecast where you’re headed, for instance, you might want to keep an umbrella within easy reach.
“For the vast majority of packing models, the primary goal is to waste as little space as possible. But in many real-world settings, you also want the right things in the right places,” says Army Maj. William Kirschenman, who recently earned a Ph.D. in operations research at NC State University.
On a typical vacation, the potential consequences of poorly planned packing probably aren’t that serious, even in the worst case. But when military troops have to unload a vehicle or aircraft in combat, the consequences could be a matter of life or death.
While completing his Ph.D. at NC State, Kirschenman helped lead research studies aimed at developing packing models that optimize spatial usage while accounting for item priority, location and weight distribution.
“My experience as a company commander was a major motivation for this research,” says Kirschenman, who’s now an assistant professor at the Naval Postgraduate School. “I always wanted my unit organized in the order that best supported the mission. Wargaming amphibious landings showed me how difficult that becomes in a chaotic or contested environment.”
Although Kirschenman’s military experience may have been his motivation, his research findings have several implications for civilian logistics as well.
The new packing models could improve efficiencies in areas such as warehouse storage and multi-drop delivery services. They could even help optimize the packing of cargo ships — which add the variable of stability into the equation. Too much weight in the wrong place can cause the ship to tilt too far to one side.
“Adding the extra constraint of stability means that you’re working around a fixed center of gravity, and you won’t know whether you’ve done it correctly until the entire area is packed, so you will probably need to make adjustments,” says Brandon McConnell, a former U.S. Army Infantry officer who’s now a research associate professor in the Edward P. Fitts Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering and the military and veteran liaison for NC State’s College of Engineering.
The first of the two new studies, “The 2-D Orthogonal Packing Problem with Multiple Levels of Prioritization: A Spatial Optimization Perspective,” appears in Naval Research Logistics. The second study, “Enhancing Military Load Planning: A Prioritized 2-D Orthogonal Packing Approach,” appears in Omega.
McConnell was a co-author of the two research studies, and Kirschenman was the first and corresponding author of both.
“This model could help ensure that mission-critical gear is offloaded first, save a warehouse worker’s time and energy, and lead to faster goods retrieval with fewer mistakes for any delivery business,” McConnell says.
This article is based on a news release from NC State University.
- Categories:
