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This paper presents a multi-pallet loading problem, assuming that products are heterogenous, and pallet loading units can be stacked creating sandwich (SNDW) loading units. The research task is to support the optimal composition of products on pallet units using the available space at the maximum level, and fulfilling the constraints, such as the maximum weight, height and stability of multi-pallet units. The aim of the research is to create the minimum number of SNDW pallets under the specific constraints of multi-pallets, products and a distribution process. The paper discusses the procedure for creating SNDW pallets with the application of simulation-based approach enriched with an original knowledge exploration procedure using Dominance-based Rough Sets Theory (DRST) and resulted rules generation. A simulation environment has been applied to verify the proposed approach, and its implementation has been carried out in a distribution company from the FMCG industry. The computational experiments have been carried out on a set of 700 picking orders. On that basis a set of decision rules has been created and used to evaluate new picking orders resulting in 83% effectiveness of their classification for potential improvement within multi-pallet loading process.
Keywords: Pallet Loading Problem (PLP), Mix Product Pallet (MIX), Sandwich Pallet (SNDW), Expert System, Dominance-based Rough Sets Theory (DRST)© This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.