use strict;
use warnings;
use Data::Dumper;

my $templateformat = 'w<NM>b<NM>cm<CH>sw<SW>';
my $inputexample = 'w8b8cm512swno';

my @first_array  = ($templateformat =~ /<([^>]*)>/g);
my @second_array = ($inputexample   =~ /\d+/g);

printf "First array = %s\n", Dumper(\@first_array);
printf "Second array = %s\n", Dumper(\@second_arrayt);

# Displays:
#
# First array = $VAR1 = [
#          'NM',
#          'NM',
#          'CH',
#          'SW'
#       ];
#
# Second array = $VAR1 = [
#          '8',
#          '8',
#          '512'
#       ];