Harmony search algorithm for the container storage problem
This work addresses a domain-specific logistics optimization problem for harbor operations, but it is incremental as it applies an existing metaheuristic to a known problem.
The paper tackled the container storage problem in harbors by adapting the harmony search algorithm to optimize container arrangements, meeting delivery deadlines, reducing rehandlings, and minimizing ship idle time, and it recorded good results compared to a genetic algorithm.
Recently a new metaheuristic called harmony search was developed. It mimics the behaviors of musicians improvising to find the better state harmony. In this paper, this algorithm is described and applied to solve the container storage problem in the harbor. The objective of this problem is to determine a valid containers arrangement, which meets customers delivery deadlines, reduces the number of container rehandlings and minimizes the ship idle time. In this paper, an adaptation of the harmony search algorithm to the container storage problem is detailed and some experimental results are presented and discussed. The proposed approach was compared to a genetic algorithm previously applied to the same problem and recorded a good results.