Extended block patterns for the two-dimensional cutting stock problem

Abstract

Guillotine patterns of specified features are often used in manufacturing industries to cut stock plate into rectangular pieces. The pattern type should be selected from considering both material utilization and cutting cost. This article proposes extended block patterns for the two-dimensional cutting stock problem, where each cut on the plate produces just one extended block. A recursion is used to generate the optimal pattern. It maximizes the difference between the total value of the included pieces and the cutting cost. The computational results indicate that extended block patterns are useful to reduce production cost.

Keywords:

• combinatorial optimization
• two-dimensional cutting stock
• extended block patterns

Acknowledgements

This research is supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation Project (61063031).