Abstract
TheNP-hard cover printing problem addressed here consists in determining the number and composition of equal size impression grids, as well as the number of times each grid is printed, in order to fulfill the demand of different book covers at minimum total printing cost. The considered costs come from printing sheets and for composing grids. Thus, to deal with this combinatorial optimization problem we investigated two heuristics: one combines simulated annealing and linear programming techniques and the other is a hybrid of Tabu Search and an ad hoc procedure. Through intensive testing on available instances, these algorithms proved to be superior to previous approaches.
Highlights
IntroductionCentral to the process of producing m types of equal size book covers is to print an impression grid (or press, template, master, etc.) composed of a set of t equal size plates, where some of them may be identical
This paper deals with a scheduling problem motivated by the printing industry
The aim of this paper is to propose two new heuristics to successfully approach the solution of the cover printing problem (CPP)
Summary
Central to the process of producing m types of equal size book covers is to print an impression grid (or press, template, master, etc.) composed of a set of t equal size plates, where some of them may be identical. To fulfill a given demand of book covers interrelated decisions must be made on the number and composition of impression grids (grids, for short) and on the amount of imprints made with each. One imprint of a grid produces one large printed sheet of paper which, once cut into t parts, yields t cover copies. The cover printing problem (CPP) consists in determining —at minimum total cost—the number and composition of grids, and the number of imprints made with each, so as to fulfill the required demand for each type of cover
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
