Material Stacking Strategies (Beta Optimizer)

When using Microvellum Toolbox's optimizer in sawing operations, the optimizer automatically separates sheets of material into different stacks based on the parts that are going to be cut from that sheet. The default strategy for the optimizer has been expanded as of Toolbox build 25.1.0325.641, with an additional stacking strategy available to users using Microvellum's Beta Optimizer: mixed stacking. This new strategy can potentially allow the optimizer to create patterns that have fewer stacks than identical stacking with the same number of sheets. 

This feature is in beta, still being developed and tested. Please submit any feedback to Microvellum by creating a support case.

Identical Stacking

Figure 1: Sawing optimization using identical stacking, with 2 stacks.

Identical Stacking, the default method, requires each part in a stack to be present in each sheet throughout the stack. As such, when optimizing parts, the optimizer will specifically only stack materials based on which materials have the same exact parts being cut from them.

As an example, consider a scenario as shown in Figure 1, in which a sawing operation has 3 large parts and 2 small parts to optimize. Only 1 large part and 1 small part can fit on a single sheet. If one is optimizing using Identical Stacking, the materials would be separated into two stacks: the first stack would be a single sheet with 1 large part assigned to it. The second stack would be 2 sheets each containing 1 large part and 1 small part. 

Mixed Stacking

Mixed stacking, the new method for stacking materials, functions differently from identical stacking. Unlike the default, mixed stacking does not require sheets to have the same exact part on them, but rather, the results are considered valid so long as the saw cuts are identical throughout the stack. 

Figure 2: The Mixed Stacking checkbox in the Processing Station.

To enable Mixed Stacking, the checkbox “Allow Mixed Stacking (BETA)” has been added to the sawing processing station.

Figure 3: A single stack of 3 sheets, 1 of which does not have a small part cut out of it.

In an identical scenario to the one noted above, wherein which a sawing operation has 3 large parts and 2 small parts to optimize, the Mixed Stacking setting being enabled would lead to the optimizer would place the sheet that has only 1 large part onto the two other sheets that have 1 large and 1 small part. This would create a single stack of 3 sheets, reducing the labor when compared to the identical stacking result. To do this, however, the saw would require the cuts in the stack to be identical. As such, if this setting is enabled, the sheet with only 1 large part will have saw cuts added to it as though it will have a small part placed on it, even if it will not.

 

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