An improved heuristic for the two-dimensional cutting stock problem with multiple sized stock sheets

This paper deals with the problem of cutting multiple sized, rectangular stock sheets into smaller rectangular order pieces to satisfy a given bill of material with minimum trim loss. A new heuristic procedure is devised that finds an effective stock sheet selection sequence, given that the layout procedure used for individual sheets is known. Results for randomly created test problems are compared with those from three previously published procedures. The new heuristic is shown to give a balanced trade-off between trim loss reduction and computational effort, especially as the number of available stock sheet sizes increases. Significance: The approach presented in this paper significantly reduces trim loss in sheet cutting operations, with only modest increases in computational effort in comparison to the quickest among a selection of existing heuristics.