PUZZLE®
Software for optimizing loading units and transport units
PUZZLE® has been optimizing the space on load carriers such as boxes and pallets since 1992. Numerous companies have already used licensed versions of the software, developed by the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics, and benefited from the more efficient allocation of shipping space. PUZZLE® not only calculates the most optimal arrangement of geometric objects in a defined space but it also helps the user select the right loading equipment for the job.
Functionality
PUZZLE® helps the logistician directly with the loading: A complex algorithm based on item data (geometry, weight, surface structure, stability, and fragility), customer specifications, and order data (quantity, item group and so on) calculates an optimal loading arrangement for the items along with the loading sequence required for the specified order volume.
Redesigned from the ground up, this portable software runs in a web browser independent of your computer’s operating system. WebGL is used to render the results of the optimization calculation as 3D graphics. The browser-based nature of the new PUZZLE® software architecture means that all of the users in a company have access to its full functionality without having to install any software.
PUZZLE® Modules
- PUZZLE Box: Optimized filling of boxes with identical items
- PUZZLE Pack: Palletization of identical packages
- PUZZLE Pack+: 2-step Optimization by combining the Modules Box and Pack
- PUZZLE SHIP-IT: Palletization of mixed orders

PUZZLE REST API – easy integration in WMS/ERP systems!
For WMS provider:
Extend your product portfolio with the functionalities of Puzzle!
Via our PUZZLE REST interface, the software can be accessed from other programs for the optimization of load carriers (cartons and/or pallets).
As basis for the PUZZLE API you need an Open JDK version 8 installation, a server with min. 1 single core and min. 4-6 GByte RAM. A detailed description of this API can be found here: http://demo.mypuzzle.de/puzzle-api.
The minimal configuration for the connection to your system consists of the REST API (interface) and a PUZZLE CORE license (calculation kernel).
This package can be extended with the following plug-ins:
- BEST FIT - Determining the best result from a combination of all possible load carriers
- Export formats:
- Excel - output as Excel list
- HTML - output as HTML file
- PDF - output as PDF Report
Functionality of all PUZZLE® modules:
- Multilingual (German, English, French)
- Interactive visualization of the optimized loading units
- Determination of the number of containers required for a specified transport volume
- Planning of the required transportation capacity
- Calculation of the volume-optimized arrangement of items on a pallet
- Provides support to the picking/loading areas with detailed picking lists or packing instructions
- Detailed packaging reports (PDF, DOCX, XLSX, PPTX or RTF)