Nesting Scheduling in Sheet Metal Processing Based on Coevolutionary Genetic Algorithm in Different Environments

Abstract

In sheet metal processing, nesting and scheduling are important factors affecting the efficiency and agility of manufacturing. The objective of nesting is to minimize the waste of material, while that of scheduling is to optimize the processing sequence. As the relation between them often becomes a trade-off, they should be considered simultaneously for the efficiency of the total manufacturing process. In this study, we propose a co-evolutionary genetic algorithm-based nesting scheduling method. We first define a cost function as a fitness value, and then we propose a grouping method that forms gene groups based on the processing layout and processing time. Finally, we validate the effectiveness of the proposed method through computational experiments.