best layout for 2d shapes

Hello,

I'm wondering if it is possible to find a "good" solution to arrange 2d-shapes on a given surface, in my case it is for having less material waste while lasercutting.

I tried some things with packrat, a nice tool but it only can handle squares and if the shapes are not squares it treats them as squares. Galapagos seems to be the right thing  because of the iteration process and it works quite well for circles. Also for other shapes? I think this is an old problem and I'm not the first one who's looking for a solution right? therefor it is supposedly not easyest thing in the world. But, maybe anyone already tried  to create such a gh-definition which helps to solve those tasks???