Priority and filler parts
When fabricating, it’s not uncommon to need some parts right away, perhaps for a rush job, and others whenever time allows. Hypertherm’s ProNest® software helps address this reality with its “priority” property.
Setting a high priority on your most important parts will ensure those parts are nested first during automatic nesting. While conversely, setting a low priority on a part will result in it getting nested only when space allows. This not only helps you get your most important parts first, it helps with material utilization.
There are two ways to go about setting part priority:
1. From the “Properties” pane, go to the “Edit Part List” window
2. Select a part
3. Go to the “Priority” box and select a number between 1 and 99
OR
1. From the main ProNest window, right click a part in the part list
2. Click “Properties”
3. Set your priority by choosing a number between 1 and 99
You would want to assign a number “1” to your highest priority parts, a “2” to the next highest and so on. Parts with the lowest priority, typically frequently cut filler parts, would be assigned a “99”. The photo below shows what your end result might look like.
During automatic nesting, filler parts are only nested when:
1. At least one non-filler part is already nested on the plate
2. Automatic nesting has already tried to place all other parts with a priority of less than 99 on the plate
What do you think of the “priority” property?