Getting the optimal panel size

The "Optimal panel" section allows you to calculate the optimal panel size for the given parts list.




The calculation of the optimal panel is done by running optimization for each subsequent panel size, from "Min. Length x Min. Width" to "Max. Length x Max. Width".
By clicking the "Edit..." button, you can set the following parameters:

  Min. Length - the starting length of the panel
  Max. Length - the ending length of the panel
  Min. Width - the starting width of the panel
  Max. Width - the ending width of the panel
  Increment by - the incrementation step used to increment the length & width from Min. to Max. For ex.: if Min. Length is 1200 mm, Max. Length is 1500 mm and "Increment by" is set to 100 mm the panel lengths used for calculation will be: 1200 mm, 1300 mm, 1400 mm and 1500 mm.
  Qty. - the Qty. used for each panel size. This works the same way the Qty. field in the "Panels" grid works: you can set a specific quantity or simply enter "unlimited".
  Material - the material type of the panel.
Please make sure you enter the same material string for panels and parts with the same material type or you will not get the expected results. Even the smallest difference between 2 material strings will cause the program to treat them as different materials. For ex.: "MDF 18mm" and "MDF 18 mm" are considered different material types by the optimization engine.
  Trims - the panel trims to be used during optimal panel calculation. Please note that default trims are not applied to this section.

The entering of parts data is described in the "Parts" section of this help.

Once all parameters are set and the parts list is defined click the "Optimize" button to start the optimal panel calculation. During optimization, a status panel is displayed showing the progress of the optimization. The "Results" grid will keep the best 10 panel sizes ordered by "Parts Done" and "Average Usage" columns. If the "Parts Done" value is smaller than 100% it means that the panel qty was not sufficient for all parts to fit on that panel size.


To load the Cutting Layout for the selected panel size in the "Results" grid double click the selected row or click the "Cutting Layout" button.

To save the Cutting Layout for the selected panel size as a job file select "File -> Save job as..." from the menu or click the "Save job as..." button on the right.

To add the Cutting Layout for the selected panel size to the jobs list so users from other workstations can access it click the "Add to jobs list" button. The job data, including panels, parts and cutting layout will be copied to the jobs database.