Frequently asked questions

Optimize

I do not know the cost of the stock. What is it used for ?

PLUS 2D tries to generate layouts that have the minimum cost. Hence it is essential that you associate a realistic cost with every stock sheet. If however you do not know the cost of any sheets, you can optimize for utilization instead of cost. 

How can I optimize for Utilization instead of cost ?

Larger stock sheets are often considerably more expensive than smaller sheets. By default the nesting software tries to minimize the cost, which is what one would typically want. If however you are only interested in maximizing the utilization, this is easily possible, by inputting the cost of the stock sheets proportional to the area of the sheets. For instance, consider if we have 2 stock sheets, A (1m by 2m) and B (2m x 2m) costing $100, and $225 respectively. If we want to only optimize for the utilization, we could give the cost of the sheets as $100 and $200 (sheet B has 2 times the area of sheet A).

I only want a quick estimate ?

Set the Slider bar to "Quick Results" and do optimize, this will give quick estimate about overall utilization.

Though the entire stock is not used, I am getting the utilization as 100 % Why ?

Check if the "Allow Offcut" setting is ON. Probably, the remaining piece is larger than the minimum offcut size. In such a case the remaining piece is NOT considered as waste. 

Can I save the NESTED LAYOUTS so that I do not have to nest again ?

The results of the optimization are automatically saved in the .plj (PLUS 2D Job file), so you have all the nested layouts next time you open the job file.

How do I get the best results from the package ?

Once you have input the stocks and parts, first Optimize using a "Quick Results". You can also check to see if there is an improvement in the  solution for different settings of the slider bar position. Also check if changing the cutting complexity can improve the solution. Try out the optimization for different settings, and choose the most appropriate result.

Why is there a slider movement for optimization?

The slider movement is given so that the user can select between quick results and optimized results. PLUS 2D uses a number of algorithms for optimization, when the user slides the slider downwards more algorithms are run by PLUS 2D to give you many more choices in optimized results.

The user should note that optimization need not be only saving material, it could be obtaining a comparatively easy and faster to cut layout, it could mean reducing the number of layouts to a minimum which can increase the rate of production.

What is the difference between quick and optimized results?

Quick results concentrate on giving you the fastest optimization. This could be useful if the user is seeking just an approximate value for a particular case, which he wants to convey to a party (say during a telephonic conversation.). optimized results concentrates more on giving you the most optimum solution irrespective of the time taken.  

Why is there a Re nest button?

If the user is not satisfied with some layouts, he can cancel the specific layout numbers by unchecking the confirm column. These layouts can than be nested separately by choosing the Re nest button.