A model-based heuristic for the combined cutting stock and scheduling problem

Abstract

In this paper, we address a variant of the cutting stock problem that considers the scheduling of the cutting operations over time. The problem combines the standard objective of cutting stock problems, which is the minimization of the raw material usage, together with a scheduling term penalizing tardiness. There is tardiness whenever the last instance of an item is cut after its given due date. This problem has been analyzed recently considering one and two-dimensional items. In this paper, we describe a new pseudo-polynomial network flow model for this combined cutting stock and scheduling problem. A revised version of this model in which consecutive time instants are aggregated is used to define an heuristic solution procedure for the problem. This revised formulation is complemented by a time assignment procedure leading to good feasible solutions for the problem. Computational results on benchmark instances are provided illustrating the potential of the approach.