There are two distinct types of Microvellum materials – formula materials and non-formula (traditional) materials. This article focuses on formula-driven materials.

Accessing Formula-Driven Materials

You may use either the Add Formula Material interface, the Edit Selected Material, or the Workbook Designer (“H,” “E,” or “M” workbooks) to access formula-driven materials.

The only default library that comes loaded with formula-driven materials is the Foundation Library. However, formula materials can be added to any library.

Formula materials are displayed in red in both the list of materials and in the edit material screen. You cannot convert a non-formula material to a formula material.

Edit Formula-Driven Material

Figures 1 and 2 above demonstrate methods for accessing the Edit Materials UI.

Each material library has slight variations in the Add Material window. These differences are highlighted in the corresponding sections below.

Sheet Stock Library

1. Material Alias Name – The Material Alias Name provides a static record for the database. Having an unchanging parameter makes it easier to locate within the database. 
   
2. Material Name – This is the primary name for the material. This name populates column A of the corresponding workbook. 
   
3. Thickness – Thickness of the material. 
   
4. Code – Used to specify an inventory code or additional information about a material. Could be used to denote color or materials, or to provide a code used to match existing item codes used in other parts of the manufacturing facility. This parameter can also be used for communication with optimizers or tooling. 
   
5. Markup – Enter a value to represent a percentage to add to the base price you pay for that item. For example, if you want to add a 5% markup to the price per sheet, enter 0.05 in this box. 
   
6. Waste Factor – Enter a value to represent a percentage to add to the base price you pay for that item. For example, enter 0.1 in the Waste Factor box to add a value representing an average waste of 10% per sheet. 
   
7. Labor Value – Enter the time, calculated as Minutes Per Unit (MPU), that it would take to finish a square foot or meter of material with sanding, staining, painting, or lacquering, or the time it would take to install a piece of hardware. 
   
8. Comments – Allows you to enter comments for the product. You can enter up to three comments, each separated by the pipe symbol. 
   
9. Hatching – Opens the Hatch Materials selection window. 
   


Fig. 6 – Hatch Materials



10. Region – Opens the region selection window. 
    


Fig. 7 – Region Selection



11. OK – Saves changes and closes the Edit Materials window. 
    
12. Cancel – Discards changes and closes the Edit Materials window. 
    
13. Grain – Setting the material grain to the width or length of the material means that you are determining that parts from that material should be cut with the grain running either with the width of the part, or the length of the part. Selecting “Show Grain Formula” displays the grain formula in the “Edit Formula” text box (Number 15 from Figure 4). 
    
14. Extended Data – These properties can be used to store additional information about the material. These three properties exist in three tables of the work order database – Parts, Hardware, and Sheets. From there, you may use them in reports. 
    
15. Edit Formula – A formula can be entered into this text box directly. Hit the enter key for changes to be applied. 
    
16. This pane lists the saved sheets for the material.
    
17. Add Sheet Size – Select this to open the “Add Sheet Size to Selected Materials” window. From there, you can edit the parameters of the sheet. 
    


Fig. 8 – Add Sheet Size to Selected Materials




The program populates the data in the sheet level Handling Code box to the work order database fields, “Sheets.HandlingCode” (when the work order is created), and “PlacedSheets.HandlingCode” (when the work order has been processed). This code is used in the TXT file defining the part labels for a sheet.

18. Edit Sheet Size – Select this to open the Edit Sheet Size window. From there, you can edit the parameters of the selected sheet. 
    
19. Remove Sheet Size – Select this to remove the selected sheet size from the sheet pane. 
    

Solid Stock and Buy Out Library

1. Estimate Price – The estimated price of the material. 
   
2. Unit Type – Select the unit of measurement. (Each, Lin. Ft., Sq. Ft., Brd. Ft.)
   
3. Handling Code – The program populates the data in the material level Handling Code box to the factory database field “Materials.HandlingCode.” Material Management Systems are becoming more common in the woodworking industry. These systems require material information in the header of the TXT files that define the part labels for the sheet. 
   

Edgeband Library

1. Part Size Adjustment – With this setting, the program reduces the part size by the edgeband thickness amount but adjusts the size based on the “Part Size Adjustment” amount. This allows control over the premill specific to the edgeband material. 
   

Hardware Library

Formula-driven hardware materials store the hardware drawing name and the 2D elevation drawing name in the spreadsheet instead of only in the database. This allows them both to be formula-driven.

When these parameters are populated, they are used instead of looking for an AutoCAD drawing of the same name as the hardware item.

Formula-Driven Materials and Workbook Designer

To access the Workbook Designer, select the icon in the upper left of the Spec Groups window.

As stated above, any formula-driven materials can be found in the H (Hardware), E (Edge Band), or M (Material) spreadsheets in the corresponding Material Library tabs.

All of the parameters listed above can be found in the spreadsheets.

Just as not all of the parameters above apply to every material library, so too will some parameters be unique to specific tables.

The following list establishes which parameter goes with which column.

Column Parameters

1. A (1) – Name
   
2. B (2) – Thickness
   
3. C (3) – MaterialEstimateSS_BO_EB (Solid Stock, Buy Out, Edge Band)
   
4. D (4) – ProjectLevel
   
5. E (5) – Link ID
   
6. F (6) – Grain
   
7. G (7) – Code
   
8. H (8) – MaterialEstimateHWR (Hardware)
   
9. I (9) – Comments
   
10. J (10) – Markup
    
11. K (11) – Waste Factor
    
12. L (12) – Handling Code
    
13. M (13) – Estimate Price
    
14. M (13) – Part Size Adjustment (Edgebanding)
    
15. N (14) – Material Alias Name
    
16. O (15) – Extended Data 1
    
17. P (16) – Extended Data 2
    
18. Q (17) – Extended Data 3
    
19. R (18) – Labor Value
    
20. S (19) – Hardware Non-Associative Drawing Name
    
21. T (20) – Hardware Associative Drawing Name
    
22. U (21) – Hardware 2D Elv Block Drawing Name
    
23. AX (50) – Sheet Name
    
24. AY (51) – Sheet Qty
    
25. AZ (52) – Sheet Width
    
26. BA (53) – Sheet Length
    
27. BB (54) – Sheet Leading Width Trim
    
28. BC (55) – Sheet Trailing Width Trim
    
29. BD (56) – Sheet Leading Length Trim
    
30. BE (57) – Sheet Trailing Length Trim
    
31. BF (58) – Sheet Optimization Priority
    
32. BG (59) – Sheet Material Cost
    
33. BH (60) – Sheet Handling Code