In the whole process of bending workpiece,the number of turns and flips,the distance of each working step and the selection of the mold will affect the efficiency of the sheet metal bending sequence.Therefore,an improved whale optimization algorithm was used to optimize the design of the bending sequence.The classical whale optimization algorithm was improved,the individual whale and the hunting method were redefined,and the local search operation was introduced to enhance the feasibility of the solution,so as to reduce the probability of falling into the local optimal solution.Finally,it was applied to the bending sequence problem,and was analyzed and compared with the known related algorithms.The experimental results show that the improved discrete whale optimization algorithm (DWOA) is used to calculate the bending sequence problem,and the optimal bending sequence plan that meets the requirements is obtained.The solution quality is higher than the comparison algorithms,and the discrete whale algorithm has better global optimization ability and faster convergence characteristics in finding the best sequence plan.