ESICUP: Academic Benchmark Instances for 2D and 3D Packing

This repository aggregates academic benchmark instances for cutting and packing optimization problems, maintained by the EURO Special Interest Group on Cutting and Packing (ESICUP). Updated in December 2025, the collection provides standardized data for testing algorithms across 2D, 3D, and nesting problem domains.

Use Cases

• Benchmarking 3D bin packing algorithms using provided item dimensions and volume constraints
• Testing nesting heuristics for irregular shapes using coordinate-based geometry data
• Evaluating strip cutting efficiency against established academic benchmark instances

Strengths

• Curated by ESICUP, the primary academic authority for cutting and packing research
• Covers diverse optimization categories including 2D/3D bin packing, nesting, and strip cutting
• Released under CC0-1.0 license allowing for unrestricted academic and commercial use

Limitations

• Lack of a unified file format across different problem types requires custom parsers for each sub-dataset
• Metadata regarding specific row counts or instance difficulty is not provided in the top-level repository

Provenance

Source

EURO Special Interest Group on Cutting and Packing (ESICUP)

Collection Method

Aggregated from various academic research publications and historical optimization benchmarks

Freshness

Updated as of December 2025.

Geography

Global academic community