Best way to calculate multiple quantities in as few runs as possible?

[Weird Girl]

I have 22 different cards with different quantities (ranging from 1500 to 14,000. I can get 16-up on a sheet. Is there a best way to calculate this so I can find the most efficient way to gang for the least amount of runs?
I've been doing prepress forever but this is a new problem for me. Any assistance or advice would be muchly appreciated.

[DigiCorn]

I do not know of any calculator out there, but if I were doing that job, I'd figure out which card has the lowest quantity and start with it as a 1-up and work the other quantities around it... however, with automation being what it is, I might be inclined to just have 22 imposed files and call it a day. A good bindery guy can slipsheet and batch cut the stack and separate when boxing.

I presume this is digital and not offset.

[Weird Girl]

One would assume digital, but alas, no. It'll be offset on 25x38. My brain is kind of exploding.

[scottrsimons]

Send the job to Engineering. That's what we do. Let them figure it out, while we get work done.

[Tracy]

that's a lot of math, the different quantities makes it harder, you may have to round up to make it work.
what I do when I have different quantities of something
Lets say I have something for 100, 200, 300
I need 1 of 100, 2 of 200 and 3 of 300
this is an easy example but I don't think there is an easy answer
if so that would be interesting,
with the different quantities head explosion is understandable 
I actually agree with Scott!

[DigiCorn]

Obviously you're printing masters for a K plate (spot color) switchout?

Again, I'd start with the smallest quantity as a 1-up and math the rest to match. If you have any that are the same quantities, I'd probably gang those together. Hopefully they didn't do something stupid like 500 of this guy and 400 of that guy... in that case, you'd be better off not wasting press time and toss 100 cards.

[jwheeler]

You need to group quantities that are multiples of each other. For example if some are 1500, 3000, 9000 you would put 1 of the 1500 piece, 2 of the 3000 piece, and 6 of the 9000 piece. If you end up with one or two that just won't divide by the rest, then round up to the closest divisible number. It will be less costly to give the customer extra prints than to make more plates and do another press run.

Personally, I would make a quick excel chart with each piece name and the quantity, then sort by quantity. Then start your grouping. This will also act as a nice check list for you and production to make sure nothing gets missed.

[Foozball]

You need to group quantities that are multiples of each other. For example if some are 1500, 3000, 9000 you would put 1 of the 1500 piece, 2 of the 3000 piece, and 6 of the 9000 piece. If you end up with one or two that just won't divide by the rest, then round up to the closest divisible number. It will be less costly to give the customer extra prints than to make more plates and do another press run.

Personally, I would make a quick excel chart with each piece name and the quantity, then sort by quantity. Then start your grouping. This will also act as a nice check list for you and production to make sure nothing gets missed.

Pre-planning the above (VERY GOOD) advice ... what's your biggest concern with "waste"? Paper/Plates/Time

If the plating is "perfect" it will likely waste paper ... If the paper usage is "efficient" you'll likely need to make more layouts (plates) ... If changing plates is a concern you're wasting press time. 
Source: I was an edition manager for a daily newspaper publication, and then became a 1 man prepress team for a mon/pop shop - both situations resulted in dealing with arse-holes who'd constantly moan about waste - regardless of how efficient I was!