Title: Element-capacity difference algorithm for optimal bin packing

Authors: Deep Shah; A. Aakash; R. Vimal Samsingh

Addresses: SSN College of Engineering, Old Mahabalipuram Road, Kalavakkam, Tamil Nadu 603110, India ' Cognizant Technology Solutions, Tidel Park, 4th Floor, C North, No. 4, Rajiv Gandhi Salai, Taramani, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600113, India ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, SSN College of Engineering, India

Abstract: In this paper, the NP-complete problem of 1D bin packing is considered. In the 'bin packing problem', a set of numbers or elements that need to be loaded in the bins is considered. The total load of the elements in any bin must not exceed the bin size or bin capacity. These elements must be packed or loaded in the bins in such a way that there is minimum amount of space left in each bin and the number of bins to be used is minimised. A new algorithm, which helps in tackling the bin packing problem, by giving optimal solutions in minimum time, is presented. The algorithms currently in use, requires the elements to be sorted before the loading. The algorithm discussed in this paper avoids the sorting operation before the loading while giving the same best fit results.

Keywords: bin packing; sorting; optimal solution; element capacity difference.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSOM.2019.102029

International Journal of Services and Operations Management, 2019 Vol.34 No.1, pp.21 - 32

Received: 14 Nov 2016
Accepted: 11 Jun 2017
Published online: 04 Sep 2019 *

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