The optimization itself is the same 1D engine across every material. What differs is the practical detail around it — and those details are what decide whether a plan is worth cutting to.
Steel bar and section is often heavier and longer than aluminium extrusion, which raises the practical cost of an extra bar — fewer bars used from an optimized plan translates directly to less material bought and moved.
Different section sizes and profiles aren’t interchangeable stock — run each section size as its own cutting list against its own available stock lengths.
Kerf differs meaningfully between blade types. Measure your specific saw and blade rather than assuming a number carried over from a different machine.
Where a machine needs a squared reference cut before the first real piece, set end trim per side so the plan already accounts for it rather than discovering the shortfall at the saw.