Page 37 - MetalForming February 2019

Fabrication: Software
Nesting Modules Used by SteinerZ
Automatic Nesting allows for efficient nesting at the click of a button.
Chain and Bridge Cutting uses chaining to link parts in a continuous cut for fewer pierces, while bridging puts a thin web of material between parts for fewer pierces and decreased movement.
Collision Avoidance reduces or eliminates the need for head raises by automatically adjusting the leads, traverse path and cut sequence for faster overall head-down motion.
Common Line Cutting allows parts to share common edges.
Data Sync adds and updates plates from an MRP/ERP system into its plate inventory.
Nesting System Optimization, a more powerful type of automatic nesting, accounts for available plate sizes, remnants, etc., for efficient combination of parts and plates.
Plate Inventory provides a database to store, track and utilize all available plates; data also can be imported from ERP/MRP.
Production Manager connects nesting software to the shop floor, providing a window into machine status and job progress.
Remnant Control defines irregular shapes for nesting. Skeleton Cutup enables simple removal of skeleton material
from the table for recycling.
Work Order Processing digitizes work-order travelers,
used to track the status of operations, and which can be imported from ERP/MRP and combined for more dynamic nesting.
“Many of our customers use the software for its core nesting functionality,” says Michalski, “but a growing per- centage, of which Titus Steiner is a part, look for and effec- tively use features to expand their businesses as they save time, materials and money, and transition to Industry 4.0.
The integration and data transfer associated with Industry 4.0 is a big trend as companies realize that with these pow- erful software packages comes the ability to have them communicate with one another throughout the factory environment.”
Stepping Toward the Future
SteinerZ recently took a step toward Industry 4.0 with its purchase of the Production Manager module, says Tom Still- well, marketing program manager for Hypertherm. “This tool digitizes the work-order process,” he says, “allowing for the importing of electronic work orders from MRP or ERP into ProNest, and enabling work orders to be combined together for more efficient nesting and longer continuous runs of cutting jobs.”
Steiner says other Industry 4.0-related nesting steps soon will follow as SteinerZ and Hypertherm collaborate. “As our business grows,” he says, “we are faced with the challenge of serving an ever increasing number of customers and their multitude of material types and delivery dates. Since imple- menting the work-order module, we have seen a dramatic increase in material efficiency and have found it easier to maintain on-time delivery as we no longer nest according to customer-specific jobs, but rather by material and due dates. We achieve additional material time and materials savings using the remnant-control module, which allows us to save and nest remnants. And, we can practice numbered (from 1 to 99) parts-priority nesting, with the highest-priority parts assigned the lowest numbers.”
As for Industry 4.0, Steiner looks forward to greater con- nectivity. “Right now I’m working with Hypertherm to synch our E2 Shop System ERP software (from Shop Tech) so that when an order is entered using E2 Shop System, that part gets pushed to ProNest, and the material’s pulled and sched- uling data entered, all without human intervention.”
Since launching SteinerZ in 2010, Titus Steiner has added significantly to his nesting capabilities via software modules that enable control of plate inventory and remnants, and provide for work-order processing and data synching for ERP/MRP integration.
Such efforts represent the future of nesting, says Stillwell. “We’re going to see greater com- munication between machines, tying back to nesting software in powerful ways,” he says.
Seamless Training
While nesting optimization, remnant control, synching and other related efforts may seem technical and complex, Steiner offers that the software is intuitive and easy to learn. “If I need someone on the shop floor to cover for a programmer, he or she can learn to nest quickly, just after a few nest samples,” he says.
“And, webinars and videos offer unlim- ited training opportunities,” says Stillwell. Adds Michalski: “Because we offer a no-
obligation software ‘test drive,’ our cus- tomers receive much of their training before they even place the order.” MF
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