aPriori automatically selects the Digital Factory’s default machine for each process, but you can manually select a different machine. For information on how to select a different machine, see the "Selecting a machine for an operation" section of the aPriori Professional User Guide.
You can find Sheet Plastic machines in the Digital Factory under Sheet Plastic > Machines.
Sheet Plastic Machine Selection Rules
aPriori selects the feasible Sheet Plastic machine with the lowest overhead (specified by the sum of the machine properties Direct Overhead Rate and Indirect Overhead Rate). aPriori prioritizes preferred machines, provided the cost model variable usePreferredMachines is set to true, before selecting the machine with the lowest overhead. A machine is considered preferred if it has the Is Preferred property set to true. Otherwise, aPriori selects from all machines.
aPriori considers a machine to be feasible if it passes the following checks:
Pressure Needed Check
aPriori checks that the machine is equipped to perform pressure forming if pressure forming is required. The machine property Is Pressure Capable specifies whether the machine is capable of pressure forming. Pressure forming is required for specific features. See Pressure Forming Required.
Stock Length Width Check
aPriori checks that the dimensions (length and width) of the stock sheet allow it to fit onto the machine. The machine properties Max Sheet Length and Max Sheet Width specify the maximum sheet size that the machine can accommodate.
Stock Thickness Check
aPriori checks that the thickness of the stock sheet is less than the maximum sheet thickness that the machine can support. The machine property Max Sheet Thickness specifies the maximum sheet thickness that the machine supports.
Forming Depth Check
aPriori checks that the maximum forming depth of the machine (specified by the machine property Max Forming Depth) is less than the height of the part, to ensure that the machine can accommodate the part’s height.