In this paper, a maximum residual rectangle genetic (MRRG) algorithm based on multi-heuristic strategies is proposed, which combines the advantages of heuristic algorithm and intelligent optimization algorithm to improve the material utilization and stability of the solution. In this method, the optimal local solution is obtained by constructing the maximum residual rectangle (MRR) algorithm based on the heuristic algorithm firstly, and the free rectangle area table update method of MRR algorithm is put forward. Secondly, in order to further improve the diversity of solutions, five heuristic strategies which are bottom-left strategy, minimum area difference strategy, minimum short side strategy, minimum long side strategy and maximum contact perimeter strategy are proposed for the MRR algorithm. Lastly, the global solution is calculated by the improved genetic algorithm, in which the five solutions obtained by heuristic MRR algorithm are used as initial solutions. The test results show that the material utilization can be increased from 91.5% to 95.9%, and further to 97.5%, which verifies the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.