Jacquenot et al.

[6] introduced 2D multi-objective placement method for complex

geometry components. Their proposed relaxed placement technique is based on the
hybridation of a genetic algorithm and a separation algorithm, and it allows to solve
placement problem with several types of placement constraints. They claimed that with
appropriate parameters of genetic algorithms, high quality solutions can be obtained.
Consecutive work by them involves a study on the influence of initial population and
parameters in the genetic algorithm.
Hopper and Turton [2] introduced two hybrid genetic algorithms for solving 2D rectangle
packing problem. The first algorithm uses the heuristic technique called Bottom-Left
(BL) routine, where the components are moved to the bottom and as far as possible to the
left side of the bin. The major disadvantage of the BL-routine is the creation of empty
areas in the layout, when larger items block the movement of successive one. In order to
overcome this drawback, the BL algorithm has been modified as Bottom-Left-Fill (BLF)
placement algorithm.
This algorithm allows placing each item at the lowest available position of the object.
Since, the generation of the layout with the BLF algorithm is based on the allocation of
the lowest sufficiently large region in the partial layout rather than on a series of bottomleft moves, it is capable of filling existing 'gaps'. In order to achieve high quality layouts
in an industrial placement problem, the improved BLF heuristic is recommended over a
sufficient number of iterations.
Bekrar and Kacem [14] have considered two-dimensional strip packing problem under
the guillotine constraint. The packing problem described is a set of rectangular items on
one strip of width W and infinite height. The items packed without overlapping must be
extracted by a series of cuts that go from one edge to the opposite edge guillotine
constraint. The main contribution consists in the elaboration of new tight lower and upper
bounds. In order to solve this problem, a dichotomic algorithm is proposed that uses
lower bound, an upper bound, and a feasibility test algorithm. The upper bounds are based
on new rules for solving the problem under the above constraint. The lower bounds are
based on a linear formulation using a set of various valid inequalities with a connection to
scheduling on parallel machines. Such bounds were very useful to build an efficient
dichotomic method, which are compared to an existing branch-and-bound method.
Computational results obtained show that the dichotomic algorithm, using the new
bounds gives good results compared to existing methods.

Dowsland and Dowsland [15] reviewed the researches carried out on modelling and
solution of layout problems in two and three dimensions and the research carried out on
exact and heuristic solution approaches. They have reported several works on packing
problems such as two-dimensional rectangular packing, pallet loading, strip bin packing,
two dimensional bin packing, three dimensional packing and non-rectangular packing.
Moreover, they have recommended that there is still plenty of scope for the researcher
into packing problems in spite of the extent of existing methodology.
Chen and Huanga [16] developed a two-level search algorithm to solve two-dimensional
rectangle-packing problem. In this algorithm, the rectangles are placed ina container one
by one and each rectangle is packed at a position by a corner-occupying action. This
action touches two items without overlapping the other already packed rectangles. At the
first level of the algorithm, a simple algorithm called A0, selects and packs one rectangle
according to the highest degree first rule at every iteration of packing. At the second level,
A0 is itself used to evaluate the benefit of a Candidate Corner-Occupying Action (CCOA)
more globally. Computational results obtained in this paper shows that the resulted
packing algorithm called A1 produces high-density solutions within short running times.
Jain and Gea [1] present a technique for applying genetic algorithms (GA) on twodimensional packing problems. This approach is applicable to not only convex shaped
objects, but can also accommodate any type of concave and complex shaped objects
including objects with holes. In this approach, a new concept of a two-dimensional
genetic chromosome is introduced. The total layout space is divided into a finite number
of cells for mapping it into this 2D genetic algorithm chromosome. The mutation and
crossover operators have been modified and are applied in conjunction with connectivity
analysis for the objects to reduce the creation of faulty generations. A new feature has
been added to the Genetic Algorithms in the form of a new operator called compaction.
Several examples of GA-based layout are presented.
Kierkosz and Luczak [17] presented a hybrid evolutionary algorithm for the twodimensional non-guillotine packing problem. The problem consists of packing many
rectangular pieces into a single rectangular sheet in order to maximize the total area of the
pieces packed. Moreover, there is a constraint on the maximum number of times that a
piece may be used in a packing pattern. Three mutation operators and two types of quality
functions are used in the algorithm. The best solution obtained by the evolutionary
algorithm is used as the initial solution in a tree search improvement procedure. This

approach is tested on a set of benchmark problems taken from the literature and compared
with the results published by other authors.