KB160827478: i-cut Automate - Can I see the numeric percentage of material fill and waste for the substrate

Question

Can I see the numeric percentage of material fill and waste for my substrate?

Definitions

The Waste is everything that is outside of the cut paths on a nested layout, what remains on the table after taking out all the finished jobs (inside the margins though, the margins are not counted as waste).

The Yield is the opposite, it is the sum of all surfaces inside all cut paths, everything that is used from the substrate.

Answer

The material waste and fill (which is, yield) is visible in the PDF and XML reports that can be generated by the output workflow (which includes the Export to nested layout task) from the Gang Run Printing queue.

Example xml: SampleNesting XML report_115gr_LAYOUT.xml

• In the PDF layout report:
  
  • Yield and waste are expressed as a percentage, e.g.: 70% yield and 30% waste.
• In the XML report:
  • Waste is not included in the XML file.
  • Yield in square mm is available as attribute and can be extracted via XPath. This value can be expressed in scientific notation.

XPath calculations to use waste information for ERP feedback

Use numerical formatting in the XPath SmartName for yield to convert the scientific notation to conventional notation, so, it can be used in calculations.

Use Width and Height in combination with Yield to calculate the waste percentage.