Cutting and packing problems

• Grant number: 07/06532-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: December 01, 2008
• End date: November 30, 2009
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Production Engineering - Operational Research
• Principal Investigator: Marcos Nereu Arenales
• Grantee: Kelly Cristina Poldi
• Host Institution: Instituto de Ciências Matemáticas e de Computação (ICMC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 06/03496-3 - Theory and practice of cutting and packing problems, AP.TEM

Abstract

In this project we adress the cutting stock problem problem which consists of available stock objects in order to produce smaller ordered items. Such problems have been intensively researched over the last decades, together with additional characteristics and new methods for solving them. We will deal with one-dimensional, two-dimensional and three-dimensional (packing) cutting stock problems and study solution methods based on the simplex method with column generation. Then, we will develop heuristics and metaheuristics for rounding the non-integer solution. Moreover, we will study the cutting stock problem coupled with lot sizing problems, with two specific applications: one in a furniture industry and other in a paper industry. We will also deal with the three-dimensional cutting problem, (more commomly in real world as packing problem), i.e, the 3D bin-packing problem. We will consider several sizes of bins available to be packed. This issue has not been explored in literature yet. (AU)