Sheet metal consumption

[jarthurbrown]

I work for an OEM who uses a lot of sheet steel (CRS, CRPO, and Al) in thier products. We currently calculate the material used in our parts based on how many parts we can grid on a sheet.

We are making some changes in our processes including eliminating batch-style manufacturing as well as introducing a 2D laser for cutting sheet metal.

I want to start using free form nesting to cut only the day's requirements, but our "system" won't understand how to consume the raw material.

Any ideas how we can accomplish both efective material usage and keep track of inventory?

jb

 

[MikeHalloran]

The (ancient) software for a former employer's (more ancient) CNC plasma cutter was capable of keeping records by individual sheet, so you could nest a new group of parts on the remainder of yesterday's or last week's sheet.

At least that's what the book and the help file said it could do.

Keeping track of partial sheets was just too much of a pain to deal with, and that 'system' didn't integrate with anything else. So we just estimated material usage by gross area of a simplified polygon. I.e., insofar as the material control system was concerned, every part was its circumscribed rectangle, plus a little.






Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA