Cut Optimizer allows import of all items for all materials at once. This feature is available to our FACTORY users only. In case you have items you are about to cut in some other system (e.g. MS Excel, exported from Tekla etc.), you can import everything you need for the whole project in a single run.

Batch vs. single import

The basic difference between single and batch import is that for batch import data must contain fourth column: material name. During the import, we try to match the material by it’s name with the materials you already have defined in Cut Optimizer. Remember that we will only try to match materials by the name.

For each material we always create a new tab and import items into it. We never import into existing tabs in case the material is the same. In case we don’t find the match, we import items in an empty tab, with empty configuration and only set the material name:

In this case you need to manually enter configuration parameters or create new material.

Import procedure

Same as for the single import you can simple copy/paste data or import it directly from the file. To start the import click the “Import All” at the top of the screen:

Following dialog will appear:

In the dialog, you first need to choose the data source. Available sources are the same as for the single import: MS Excel, Paste from MS Excel (default), CSV and Paste CSV. Here are the explanations for each of these:

MS Excel – You simply pick an Excel file you want to import data from. Data must be on the first sheet in the document, and must contain a single table with four columns: 1 – length (numeric, required), 2 – quantity (numeric, required), 3 – description (text, required), 4 – material (text, required). Column headers should not be included. The following image shows how MS Excel file should look like:

Paste from MS Excel – is similar to the previous option but you just copy and paste the data, so basically the same data from above you first copy:

and paste it into the dialog:

Note that pasting from Google Sheets works as well.

CSV – Import data from the CSV (Comma Separated Values) file. The rules are the same as for MS Excel. Columns: 1 – length (numeric, required), 2 – quantity (numeric, required), 3 – description (text, required), 4 – material (text, required). Column headers should not be included. The content of the file may look like this:

Paste CSV – is completely the same as the previous option except you paste copied values instead of importing from file. Following image shows an example of it may look like:

Download sample files here:

MS Excel Sample File

CSV File Sample

Read more about single import