On the Stability of Pallet Loading Layouts

The packing layout for loading boxes of identical format on a pallet can be determined algorithmically. This is important when performing automated packing by a robot. The well-known four-block heuristics and G4-heuristics produce very efficient loading patters in most practical cases. In addition to the number of boxes on the pallet, one has to maximize the stability of the loading. This paper discusses the method of measuring the stability and proposes a modified set of stability rules giving more weight to the outer regions of the packing volume. Practical tests with the block heuristics reveal that the stability of the layouts may be extremely weak and caution should be taken when adopting their solutions in production.