  We present a new branch-and-bound type search method for mixed integer linear
optimization problems based on the concept of offshoots (introduced in this
paper). While similar to a classic branch-and-bound method, it allows for
changing the order of the variables in a dive (shaping) and removing
unnecessary branching variables from a dive (trimming). The regular
branch-and-bound algorithm can be seen as a special case of our new method. We
also discuss extensions to our new method such as choosing to branch from the
top or the bottom of an offshoot. We present several numerical experiments to
give a first impression of the potential of our new method.
