In this paper, we consider the (additive integrality) gap of the cutting stock problem (CSP) and the skiving stock problem (SSP). Formally, the gap is defined as the difference between the optimal values of the ILP and its LP relaxation. For both, the CSP and the SSP, this gap is known to be bounded by … Read more
We study pseudo-polynomial formulations for the classical bin packing and cutting stock problems. We first propose an overview of dominance and equivalence relations among the main pattern-based and pseudo-polynomial formulations from the literature. We then introduce reflect, a new formulation that uses just half of the bin capacity to model an instance and needs significantly … Read more
We address the multi container loading problem of a company that has to serve its customers by first putting the products on pallets and then loading the pallets into trucks. We approach the problem by developing and solving integer linear models. To be useful in practice, our models consider three types of constraints: geometric constraints, … Read more
We present an exact method, based on an arc-flow formulation with side constraints, for solving bin packing and cutting stock problems — including multi-constraint variants — by simply representing all the patterns in a very compact graph. Our method includes a graph compression algorithm that usually reduces the size of the underlying graph substantially without … Read more
This paper presents a new warmstarting technique in the context of a primal-dual column generation method applied to solve a particular class of combinatorial optimization problems. The technique relies on calculating an initial point and on solving auxiliary linear optimization problems to determine the step direction needed to fully restore primal and dual feasibilities after … Read more
We present a new method for solving bin packing problems, including two-constraint variants, based on an arc flow formulation with side constraints. Conventional formulations for bin packing problems are usually highly symmetric and provide very weak lower bounds. The arc flow formulation proposed provides a very strong lower bound, and is able to break symmetry … Read more
We discuss two formulations of the Pattern Minimization Problem: (1) introduced by Vanderbeck, and (2) obtained adding setup variables to the cutting stock formulation by Gilmore-Gomory. Let $z_i^{LP}(u)$ be the bound given by the linear relaxation of ($i$) under a given vector $u = (u_k)$ of parameters. We show that $z_2^{LP}(u}) \ge z_1^{LP}(u)$ and provide … Read more
Working with an integer bilinear programming formulation of a one-dimensional cutting-stock problem, we develop an ILP-based local-search heuristic. The ILPs holistically integrate the master and subproblem of the usual price driven pattern-generation paradigm, resulting in a unified model that generates new patterns in situ. We work harder to generate new columns, but we are guaranteed … Read more