CONSTRUCTIVE ALGORITHMS FOR LEATHER NESTING IN THE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY

Author* PEDRO BRS Supervisors: Cludio Alves, Jos Valrio de Carvalho

* bras.pedro@gmail.com

University of Minho School of Engineering Centre of Biological Engineering

LEATHER NESTING IN THE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY

The general definition of two-dimensional cutting stock problem is, given a set of geometric shapes, find its optimal layout on a larger shape. This optimal solution may consist in minimizing the wastage of material, maximizing the area of the parts placed or maximizing the value of the shapes placed. Cutting stock problems are crucial processes in many fields of industry, such as textile, leather, wood, steel, glass, etc. The importance of these problems is related to how effective the raw material is used and, depending of its cost and quantity, the financial impact may be decisive to the company competitive status. In this project, we consider the problem of placing on leather hides a set of irregular 2D shapes, which are parts of cars seats. This project is an applied research project involving a portuguese automotive company with the purpose of contributing to modernize the cutting processes by defining and implementing efficient nesting algorithms. Placement strategies These strategies will explore the available empty places in the hide to lay the pieces selected. For this procedure we deeply use the No-Fit-Polygon concept by calculating the Minkowski sums between polygons, including contours, quality areas and defects Evaluation strategies Several evaluations techniques are used to evaluate the placement quality of the pieces in the hide, with the purpose of maximize the leather utilization. These evaluation contemplate contour adjustment, quality area usage, etc. Selection strategies Using the groups previously creates, some selection strategies were developed to determine which piece will be selected for placement following different sequencing approaches Grouping strategies Given a set of pieces, taken from real industrial instances, these strategies will separate them into subsets regarding different characteristics and/or placement tactics NESTING APPLICATION Constructive Algorithm IMPLEMENTATION Data extraction module File content reading Graphic functions Polygon representation Geometric functions Minkowski sum Polygon simplification Polygon grouping

Name: Pedro A. Fonseca Brs Email: bras.pedro@gmail.com

Education: Graduation degree in Mathematics Master degree in Industrial Engineering Domain of specialization: Production and System Engineering Operations Research Area of scientific activity: Optimization, cutting and packing problems

Engenharia para a Qualidade de Vida Semana da Escola de Engenharia -11 a 16 de Outubro de 2010