Configuration Impacts to Performance
Being intentional with requests of the PackNet Cube is critical. Every increment of a cube variable has an exponential impact on the computation and will increase the time it takes to return an optimal solution.
Items - Cube evaluates six permutations of how each item can be cubed. Each additional item not only increases the permutations by the six sides of the second item, but 6 to the power of the number of items to be cubed. For example, 62=36 versions of two items being packed together, or 6x where x = the number of items to be cubed.
63 = 216 permutations
64 = 1,296 permutations
65 = 7,776 permutations
69 = 10,077,696 permutations
Recommended Initial Configuration
Min - Start with the dimensions of the single largest item to be packed, as there will never be a 100% packed box solution smaller than that.
Max - If a box will be produced on a Packsize machine, start with the maximum container producible. Other factors to consider include corrugated material quality and carton design.
Increment - The increment is the measurable increase between the minimum and maximum dimensions. Remember, the box list is dynamic. Setting the maximum dimensions, minimum dimensions, and the increment to increase are just the largest box, smallest box, and every box in between. The first box in the list is the minimum dimensions. If the increment is 1, the box list will increment by 1 along each of the 3 dimensions until it reaches the established maximum dimensions.
A perfect right-sized box can still be achieved with larger increments using the Shrink to fit configuration option. Maintaining a smaller box list enables PackNet Cube to return results faster and Shrink to fit allows those results to be minimized to reduce empty space.
Machine - Each machine has physical limitations to the size of the box that it can create. Consider the limitations of the specific system being used, accounting for things like:
Label size
Label placement
Conveyance width
Conveyance speed
Shipping requirements
Weight limits
Carton design
Corrugate width
Corrugate quality
Understand and use these machine limitations and variables to inform dimensions.
Impact of limitations and variables on compute time
Each permutation within the dynamic box list requires computation time. While a single call is executed in milliseconds, the cumulative effect of adding additional, unnecessary boxes can escalate to billions of milliseconds resulting in hours of computation time.