Complex Files & Ordering

[keness]

Hello!

I am readying a prototype which will have a large number of 3D (milled) and 2D (laser cut) parts. A couple of questions as I prepare the files for ordering...

(1) For multiple laser cut parts in a single file, I have gleaned from other forum posts that I don't need to spend a great deal of time arranging all the parts so that there is minimal dead space between each, your production software will take care of this at fabrication time?

(2) I have designed the laser cut parts for all the subsections of the machine as separate files. However, for obvious cost effectiveness reasons I'll be combining some of these into a single file when it is time to order. One of these files has ended up rather large and generating quotes actually takes quite a very long time. It does work, though. If I start the software fresh before I try to get a quote, it doesn't crash or generate errors. So that means it should be fine on your end, right? Despite the size? That one file alone is a set of 54 parts. (Happy to send for quick review if you have a private way to attach/send files.)

(3) Is there any type of "lump" pricing discount if I have a large number of individual files sent at once? All together I have about 100 laser cut parts and about the same number of milled parts to make up a single "machine". This first order is for the prototype, so the individual quantities aren't high, but still a couple hundred+ parts for fabrication.

Thanks very much!

[Tech2]

1 - Correct.

2 - 2D jobs must not have more than 25 parts per set nor more than 10 minutes of CPU time to price.

3 - Discounts for quantity of parts in an order are built into the software. We do not currently offer discounts for quantity of orders - mainly because there aren't significant economies of scale.

[keness]

Thanks for the quick reply.

Regarding #2, I think in a future update this should be taken care of by the software directly in a more black & white fashion. In other words, files with more than 25 parts have never generated any errors or warnings or flags for me. Your mentioning it is the first indication I've seen that there is a "rule" regarding this. Also, the "10 minutes of CPU time to price" is too ambiguous, considering the multitude of computers customers may be using. Further, adding a "brush flat" surface finishing seems to add a significant amount of time to the pricing, but if this were to push my over my "10 minutes" it wouldn't seem right really.

I just re-arranged all my files, and this 25 part/10 minute thing has just added a couple THOUSAND dollars to the cost of my prototype due to all the splitting up I needed to do. Not the kind of "surprise" I'm real happy about as it seems these are rules the software could have easily indicated. (Especially the 25 part thing, that would be super easy.)

Just a little frustrated to be finding this out now, but thanks for the quick feedback.

[Tech2]

Thanks for your suggestions. Also, if you send in your file via CAD menu Help | Troubleshooting with reference to this post, we'll see if there are any tips we can give you.

[keness]

Thanks. Just sent it.

This is just one of many similar files for this particular project, but it is representative of the rest. (Of the 2D laser cut parts, anyway. The 3D milled parts are more "straightforward" since it isn't as easy to combine multiple parts in a single file. Except for some simple "nut" type parts, I have designed all the 3D parts one-to-a-file.)