An integer programming formulation and iterative scheme algorithm for the block relocation problem

In this paper, we deal with the unrestricted block relocation problem. We present a new integer programming formulation for solving the problem. The initial formulation is improved by tightening constraints and a pre-processing step to fix several variables. We design a exact iterative scheme algorithm based on a fast heuristic for the integer programming formulation (ISA-FH). Computational results show the effectiveness of the improved formulation and algorithm.