Optimum Cutting Rectangles of A Single Size from A Long Rectangular Sheet

This paper deals with the problem of generating cutting patterns for rectangular blanks of a single size from a rectangular sheet when the sheet length is longer than the blade length. The sheet is first cut into several sections. The size and cutting pattern of every section must be optimized to arrange as many as possible blanks in the long sheet. A branch-and-bound method is constructed by extending Agrawal's approach to solve this problem. Experimental computations show that the method is efficient. Solution to an example is given and is compared to the patterns often used in production to illustrate the potential of the approach in saving material.