The ideal position for your part in drawings

How your part is positioned in a drawing may seem like a small detail. However, an ‘incorrect’ position in Sophia® can lead to errors and quotations that are too expensive.
In this blog post, we explain more and most of all how to prevent this problem.

1. What do we mean by positioning?

A 3D design is positioned relative to the X-axis, Y-axis and Z-axis:

The position of your part simply means where it is relative to the axes.

2. Effects of positioning parts diagonally

Sophia® uses these axes to localise and analyse the position of your part. The software draws a rectangular ‘bounding box’ around the part. This rectangle is used to reserve space in the nesting on the sheet.

However, Sophia® cannot straighten parts that are drawn diagonally.

If you position a part diagonally relative to the origin in your drawing, a larger rectangle than necessary will be reserved. This can lead to two problems:

1. The part does not fit
2. The part takes up more space than necessary

2.1 Part does not fit

Firstly, Sophia® may think the part does not fit on the sheet. The following example shows why.

The most common maximum dimensions for sheet metal parts are 2,980 x 1,480 mm. Imagine you have a strip with a length of 2,200 mm. This should fit lengthwise without any problems. 

However, if you position the strip diagonally in your drawing, Sophia® will also position it diagonally on the sheet. The result is that the strip will appear to be too large and Sophia® will show the following message:

There are several reasons for this message. However:

• If your part is positioned diagonally after importing (as above).
• If you see that the width and height exceed our maximum dimensions (2,980 x 1,480 mm) in ‘Product characteristics’.

Then this can probably be easily resolved by positioning the part horizontally* in your drawing package and uploading the drawing again.

When ordering 3D bent parts, Sophia® will first determine the flat pattern. If your part is positioned straight relative to the axes, the flat pattern will also be straight. If your part is drawn diagonally, the flat pattern will also be placed diagonally. However, a diagonally positioned flat pattern for a part to be bent often fits better in the nesting on the sheet. This is highly dependent on the shape.

2.2 The part takes up more space than necessary

Secondly, even if Sophia® determines that the part does fit on the sheet, it may take up more space than necessary. This will not necessarily result in an error, but can lead to extra costs. The image below shows why:

Imagine the strip above has dimensions of 1,800 x 100 mm. In this case, the total area required when placed at an angle of 45 degrees is around 1.86 m². However, if this strip is positioned horizontally, it takes up just 0.22 m².

If you order several of this diagonal part, the nesting will be more efficient, but you will still not achieve the same efficiency as you would if you positioned it horizontally.

To illustrate why:

With five of these diagonally positioned strips next to each other, the total required area is around 2.7 m². But if the same strips are positioned horizontally next to each other, the required area is just 1.02 m².

These examples show that much less space is used on the sheet. Positioning parts horizontally results in a lower price* than positioning them diagonally. For larger orders, this can add up to thousands of euros!

*There are exceptions, but these are mostly related to other factors, such as the choice of material.

When you upload a 3D part to be bent, Sophia® will first generate the flat pattern. If the part is straight relative to the axes, this pattern will also be positioned straight. If the part is drawn diagonally, the pattern will follow the same angle. Sometimes a diagonal flat pattern may fit better in the nesting. When exactly depends on the shape.

Positioning parts horizontally not only results in a potentially lower price, but also helps us nest parts better, makes it easier to place them and allows us to process them faster. This can even have a positive effect on the lead time.

3. So: make sure you position your parts horizontally!

Positioning parts horizontally makes it easier for Sophia® to nest your parts as efficiently as possible. The potential benefits include:

• Fewer errors
• Better fitting
• Lower costs
• Earlier delivery date

Although this rule applies in most cases, there are exceptions, particularly for 3D bent parts.

Questions?

If you have any questions about positioning your part, please feel free to contact us.