Nothing cuts into cash flow like Wasted Raw Material!

One of the main uses of nesting software is to improve material usage and reduce waste. Effective use of nesting software does a lot more than create nests and generate g-code. Effective nesting software cuts material costs, improves programming efficiency, productivity and overall enables a better production control.

And nothing is more frustrating than seeing huge piles of scrap go out the door. It is these real, tangible costs that with some foresight and creative thinking, can be turned into rewards.

Let’s start with some basic Knowledge

What is nesting software?

Nesting software takes a series flat patterns of parts to be cut out of sheets of material and works out the best layout, or ‘nest’ in order to combine as many parts on the material with the least amount of waste. It also optimises the cutting path to take the shortest time and generates the ‘NC’ (numerical control) code used to drive the CNC machine that will cut the material.

What is CAM?

CAM relates to applying software to the process of manufacturing it. In the case of nesting software, this means taking the line drawing of the 2D part, applying cutting logic (or tools in the case of punching machines), nesting the parts and then generating the NC code to drive the CNC machine.

Now that you have a better understanding of what nesting software is and how it can help your business become more efficient in the long term, let’s take look at the ROI and how you calculate that.

Areas that nesting software will help you make savings:

Material utilisation.

By using a high-performance nesting algorithm, you can often save several percent on your material. When cutting expensive board material or pre-preg composites, even a 1% saving can pay for the software in a matter of months.

Man Power.

By automating processes such as CAD import and nesting, you can drastically ‘de-skill’ the CAM process. CAD import can be automated using a DXF file and associated ‘PPI’ (Part Programming Information) containing information such as material, thickness, machine to nest on and quantity required. The process of moving from CAD file(s) to NC code can literally be reduced to a matter of minutes.