Two-Dimensional Finite Bin-Packing Algorithms

Abstract

Given a set of rectangular pieces, the two-dimensional bin-packing problem is to place the pieces into an open-ended bin of infinite height such that the height of the resulting packing is minimized. In this paper we analyse the performance of two-dimensional bin-packing heuristics when applied to the special case of packing into finite bins. We develop new bin-packing heuristics by adapting the bottom-left packing method and the next-fit, first-fit and best-fit level-oriented packing heuristics to the finite-bin case. We present our implementation of these algorithms, and compare them to other finite-bin heuristics. Our computational results indicate that the heuristics presented in this paper are suitable for practical use, and behave in a manner which reflects the proven worst-case bounds for the two-dimensional open-ended bin-packing problem.