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A simulated annealing approach to the nesting problem in the textile manufacturing industry

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Abstract

The nesting problem in the textile industry is the problem of placing a set of irregularly shaped pieces (calledstencils) on a rectangularsurface, such that no stencils overlap and that thetrim loss produced when cutting out the stencils is minimized. Certain constraints may put restrictions on the positions and orientation of some stencils in the layout but, in general, the problem is unconstrained. In this paper, an algorithmic approach using simulated annealing is presented covering a wide variety of constraints which may occur in the industrial manufacturing process. The algorithm has high performance, is quite simple to use, is extensible with respect to the set of constraints to be met, and is easy to implement.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer Science, University of Bonn, Römerstraße 164, D-53117, Bonn, Germany

    Ralf Heckmann & Thomas Lengauer

  2. Institute for Algorithms and Scientific Computing, German National Research Center for Computer Science (GMD), Schloß Birlinghoven, D-53757, Sankt Augustin, Germany

    Thomas Lengauer

Authors
  1. Ralf Heckmann
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  2. Thomas Lengauer
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The work of this author was supported in part by grant Le 491/3-1 from the German Research Association (DFG).

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Heckmann, R., Lengauer, T. A simulated annealing approach to the nesting problem in the textile manufacturing industry. Ann Oper Res 57, 103–133 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02099693

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