can anyone help

[Nigel Nobody]

Sometimes I have a job that consists of multiple mats in a number of sizes. For instance, the order may require five different sizes and there may be 3 of one, 7 of another, 4 of another, 10 of another and 5 of the other size. Each mat is designed on the screen and the correct number added in. After the last mat has been added, the software calculates the first mat to be cut and when it's done, the next sheet goes in and cutting proceeds.

If some of the mats are small enough they are nested inside larger mats.

[stcstc]

well i cut mounts today to fullfil an order, about 70

think there was 6 or 7 sizes, used 8 sheets

the gunnar both nested and optimised the mounts across all the sheets, without me really doing anything

although this is very cool, it does mean the stack of mounts coming of the machine had to be sorted into order afterwards

[JamesC]

I think the problem has been illustrated quite well now. Thanks to the objective and helpful people on the forum.

I would just add that I currently never use my smaller scraps of mountboards so minimising waste and maximising the size of offcuts is important. Otherwise they just build up because I can't make small frames competitively or profitably with my set-up (can anyone in the UK?).

Doing name mounts I've thought is a good way of using long thin scraps viably as a workaround. I also intend to start doing fairs and shows soon and will make the offcuts into little sellable framed prints as I also advertise my business by talking to folk. May also try to offload packs of small mounts to local art and photography clubs. Doing small frames online is not really worthwhile just at the moment nor easy to sell on my web platform without complicating things a lot which is not a good idea.

I would also add that to be really good at optimizing the Valiani software needs to work like the Gunnar software described - not just sticking mats as far as it can in the top right in the order you drag the mounts in but finding the best rotation, nesting and combinations automatically. It could save me whole sheets of mountboard (or keep one in tact rather than in L-shapes and scraps more accurately).

I do know that software upgrades are free with Valiani and it may well come quite soon now it's out of the bag. Still got a great machine and I've got some added functionality with it. I'm in no doubt the Gunnar is a good machine too and will be better for some uses - naturally like many competing products. Let's not open that can of worms too much anyway we all know who likes what.

[Jared Davis CPF, GCF]

Speaking on behalf of Gunnar,

Firstly – please allow me to say that not all CMC’s are created equal. There are many differences, in many respects.

Does Gunnar nest and/or optimise across multiple sheets ?

Yes. As per this list of “industry firsts” on this page: http://www.megawood.com.au/cmc_website/ ... stones.htm
…. Gunnar were the first CMC to offer “real” nesting, not just for a full sheet, and we took it beyond that into multiple sheets, back in 2001!

It also works “the other way” into board sizes less than a full sheet – which is a great way for custom framers to automatically chew up off-cuts into ready-made mounts, without thinking.

Also, Gunnar’s nesting work “infinitely – so you can have small mounts, inside middle mounts, inside larger mounts, inside “even larger” mounts, and beyond…. Not just “one dimension” down.

Gunnar’s nesting feature also pre-calculates the cutting order automatically, so it cuts the smaller inner openings first, and gradually works its way outwards – thus avoiding mounts being cut in the wrong order, and also saving the operator the time to have to manually allocate the cut order themselves too.

Why would you want to optimise across multiple sheets.
If you optimise for one sheet then surely those settings will carry over to the next sheet and so on...... Which all CMC's will do..

Not necessarily – significant board yield can be saved when you consider higher volumes across a mixture of sized mounts.

Keep in mind there are many manufacturers around the world, and the US, that certainly have well more than 10 Gunnar CMC’s running full-time, cutting mountboard by the pallet.

Originally called “Pooling” – “Nesting” was requested by these large production manufacturers (OEM’s) who wanted to save money and time – without relying on their workers judgment to maximize efficiency and reduce wastage. They wanted a saved library of all their standard sized mounts, and then be able to determine the quantity of each unit - eg:
10" x 8" with 5" x 7" --> I need 98 of these please
16" x 20" with 11" x 14" --> I need 33 of these please
6" x 8 with 5" x 7" --> I need 231 of these please
20” x 20” with 16” x 20”--> I need 2 of these please

Now hit the “calculate nest” button, and watch it automatically work itself out – ready for you to cut.

I have some large volume CMC users in Australia that use this feature all the time, and cannot live without it.

With the recent release of our new GMC software, we have improved the algorithm for our nesting even further, so it can understand multiple opening, multiple layered mounts, and automatically rotate and orient each type of mount individually – to increase board yield and reduce waste.

Cheers,
Jared Davis MCPF, GCF
http://www.jared-davis.com

[David]

I've only had my Gunnar a couple of months and have already changed the way we work with the nesting feature. At the start of the week I run a report off from our pricing software, this gives us a cutting list of the various mounts needed for the week. We then put all the mounts in the same board together, enter the dimensions into the Gunnar software and then its just a case of feeding the machine. With multiple or large mount combinations it can run onto 2 or 3 sheets. I have found it a very useful and unexpected benefit.