A survey of optimization methods for Block Relocation and PreMarshalling Problems

Problems of stacking items or goods occur in a plenty of applications, such as container terminals, warehouses, and steel plants. A lot of research has been done in this area in recent years. In this survey, we provide an overview of the Block Relocation Problem (BRP) and the PreMarshalling Problem (PMP) and review optimization methods for these two problems. Due to common properties between these problems, solutions and methods applicable to one problem can often be applied to the other, and vice-versa. We distinguish four categories of optimization methods and propose future directions for each of them.