Cutting Down Trim-loss for Competitive Advantage: a Singaporean Company's Experience

Abstract

This paper concerns a study of the cutting-stock problem faced by a small company in the building components industry in Singapore. It involves the development of a simple heuristic procedure which is able to recommend cutting patterns tailored to the specific needs of the company. To help determine the appropriate stock lengths to order, a simulation-cum-sampling approach is proposed. The pattern-generating heuristic has been tested using real-life project data. The results obtained are very encouraging in that the goals set by the management of the firm are met well within the numerous constraints faced.