Page 29 - MetalForming September 2019

path, and a shop must produce the correct parts as needed to meet internal production flow and external demands, i.e., customer delivery schedules.
To better understand nesting capa- bilities for laser cutting, and how improvements in algorithms and the ability to interact with production- and shop-wide software add to these capa- bilities, MetalForming discussed these issues with John Parenzan, software product manager for Amada America, Inc.
A major advantage, offers Parenzan, of using laser equipment over CNC punching machines is the ability to create tighter nests due to the elimi- nation of parting-tool restrictions. Parts can now be nested closer, increasing sheet utilization. Powerful nesting soft- ware optimizes laser cutting in many ways, but before getting into the details, Parenzan touches on concerns among fabricators as to the accuracy of such software.
“Many fabricators seek to employ nesting software early on when esti- mating jobs,” he says. “To do that, soft- ware run times must be accurate in order to provide fast, accurate quotes.” Importing accurate cutting conditions increases the likely hood of accurate quotes. As examples, Parenzan cites Amada’s AP100US and Dr ABE Blank applications that can import the cut- ting conditions directly from the Amada machine controls.
Also, today’s powerful nesting-soft- ware algorithms for laser cutters auto- mate work that previously required a programmer’s touch. As a result, nest- ing applications provide automatic tool selection, lead-in assignment, part spacing, sequence optimization and sheet sizing. And, users can select from a variety of automatically calculated nesting parameters.
“Software offers the ability to move lead-ins to reduce the traverse time,” Parenzan says, citing an efficiency
example. “Suppose a circle cut is set to start at the 3-o’clock position, with two holes located side-by-side. Instead of starting both cuts at that position, one can start at 3 o’clock and the other at 9 o’clock, as the head jumps a shorter distance between the hole positions. Time savings add up.”
Importantly, offers Parenzan, users seeking to tweak cutting conditions and further optimize run times can perform simple modifications to default settings.
Better Algorithms Provide More Nesting Options
Newer software provides more pow- erful algorithms to fully optimize part fit up and sheet utilization. This includes the ability to nest parts within parts.
“Fabricators, perhaps those produc- ing appliance parts such as refrigerator or oven doors, for example, work with parts having internal cutouts for the
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