Applying shuffled frog leaping algorithm and bottom left fill algorithm in rectangular packing problem

Abstract

© 2017 IEEE. Modern industry has been applying various optimization methods in solving problems and increasing productivity. The bin packing problem is one of the well-known problems in many industries, such as, glass manufacturing industry, paper packaging industry and garment industry that commonly require optimization techniques to improve the productivity. This paper introduces the use of the shuffled frog leaping algorithm (SFLA), a meta-heuristic approach for optimization, combined with the bottom left fill algorithm (BLF) as an approach for optimizing the arrangement of the 2D shapes in limited space. The objective is to arrange the set of rectangular box items in a given 2D space as efficiently as possible in order to minimize the waste from the process. The algorithm performance in converging to the optimal solution is presented. The proposed approach could be applied to various related manufacturing problems.