Multi-job cutting stock problem with due dates and release dates

The common feature of cutting stock problems is to cut some form of stock materials to produce smaller pieces of materials in quantities matching orders received. Most research on cutting stock problems focuses on either generating cutting patterns to minimize wastage or determining the required number of stock materials to meet orders. This paper examines a variation of cutting stock problems that arises in some industries where meeting orders’ due dates is more important than minimizing wastage of materials. The paper develops two two-dimensional cutting stock models with due date and release date constraints. Since adding due dates and release dates makes the traditional cutting stock problem even more difficult to solve, the paper develops both LP-based and non-LP-based heuristics to obtain good solutions. The computational results show that the solution procedures are easy to implement and work very well.