Calculate Which Size Box to use when packing multiple items with differing sizes

[Jonozee]

Hello All,

I read this elegant solution:

Determining Box size from Product Dimensions (LxWxH)

Hello all, First time poster here. I am creating a comprehensive product analyzer for my company and I am stuck on one part of it. To preface this problem, I will give a little bit of background about the business to hopefully shed some light on the issue. We are an e-commerce company that...

www.mrexcel.com

This solved the problem of picking the most efficient (smallest) size shipping box for a single item.

What if we want to take it to the next step:

• Start with a given set of available boxes to pack items in.
• Enter a list of items, each with Width x Length x Height, and the qty of each unique item

Goal: find the box that will hold them all, or if it exceeds the largest box, fill that box and show what boxes to use for the balance. This overflow calculation could be a next phase, as long as the caculator shows the qty of which items are left over when filling the largest box.

I'm new to posting questions here, please don't hesitate to give advice on how to make this question as clear as possible, or other posting etiquette.

 

[Legacy 143009]

Hi,

Quantity is an interesting detail. Let's say we have ItemA 3pcs and ItemB 2pcs. We can fit either 3xItemA or 2xItemA + 1xItemB. Which scenario would you prefer?

 

[Jonozee]

Preference should go to keeping like items together. So 3x item A would always be preferred.

 

[Legacy 143009]

But what if 2xItemA + 1xItemB scenario will take more advantage of the box? For example:
Large Box=20m3
3xItemA=15m3
2xItemA+1xItemB=18m3

 

[Jonozee]

For this exercise, lets prioritize the like items over maximum efficiency. Think about what the customer receiving the boxes will experience, being able to check off one line of their purchase order as received, while the relative difference in pricing between boxes is negligible (at least when dealing with higher priced items, as in my own case).