(classic problem)
Definition: Find the best arrangement of shapes on rectangles to minimize waste or the number of rectangles. This is a two-dimensional variant of the bin packing problem. It is NP-complete.
Specialization (... is a kind of me.)
strip packing is a one-dimensional variant.
See also knapsack problem, optimization problem.
Note: This problem arises often in manufacturing. For instance, deciding how to cut pieces for pants from cloth or shapes from sheet metal.
Author: PEB
If you have suggestions, corrections, or comments, please get in touch with Paul Black.
Entry modified 27 April 2009.
HTML page formatted Mon Feb 2 13:10:39 2015.
Cite this as:
Paul E. Black, "cutting stock problem", in
Dictionary of Algorithms and Data Structures [online], Vreda Pieterse and Paul E. Black, eds. 27 April 2009. (accessed TODAY)
Available from: http://www.nist.gov/dads/HTML/cuttingStock.html