A first approximation algorithm for the Bin Packing Problem with Setups
Optimization and Control
2026-01-01 v1
Abstract
We study constant-factor approximation algorithms for the Bin Packing Problem with Setups (BPPS). First, we show that adaptations of classical BPP heuristics can have arbitrarily poor worst-case performance on BPPS instances. Then, we propose a two-phase heuristic for the BPPS that applies an {\alpha}-approximation algorithm for the BPP to the items of each class and then performs a merging phase on the open bins. We prove that this heuristic is a 2 {\alpha}-approximation algorithm for the BPPS.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2512.24785,
title = {A first approximation algorithm for the Bin Packing Problem with Setups},
author = {Roberto Baldacci and Fabio Ciccarelli and Stefano Coniglio and Valerio Dose and Fabio Furini},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2512.24785},
year = {2026}
}