An Efficient Constructive Heuristic for the Cutting Stock Problem Applied in a Foam Mattress Industry

Abstract

The cutting and packing problem belongs to the combinatorial optimization problems; it covers a wide range of practical cases in industries. The present paper investigates a new real world problem needs to be solved through a daily operations of cutting foam blocks in an industrial company. The problem is considered as one of non-classical problems in the cutting and packing area. It represents a variant of the three dimensional Cutting Stock Problem. The originality of the studied problem is indicated by a specific set of constraints related to the production process and the cutting ways. A constructive heuristic was developed to provide cutting patterns in advance. All possible combinations established from the ways of cutting right rectangular prisms from foam blocks define the cutting patterns. This heuristic performs well and shows promising results in reasonable computational times to provide efficient cutting plans in order to reduce the total material loss.