Solution to the assortment problem via the genetic algorithm

The assortment problem considers what standard sizes of material should be maintained in an inventory from which to cut required bills of material of smaller pieces. An example could come from an industry utilizing steel pipe where it is required to cut a bill of material of various pipe lengths out of standard lengths of pipe kept in inventory. This paper introduces the use of genetic algorithms in the solution of the assortment problem and a comparison is made between the results obtained with the genetic algorithm and the results of an existing heuristic method. It is shown under what circumstances each of the two methods should be applied.