Our solutions allow to save steel on many levels. When you look at the price of steel, the company's scrap rates and multiply them by the number of tons produced per year, the savings are easy to calculate. This represents a significant margin for improvement, especially in a sector where steel fabricators do not have many levers to reduce their costs and optimize their margins.
Firstly, our section and plate nesting algorithms save a lot of raw material. During production preparation, they ensure that the parts to be produced are positioned in the bars and plates purchased from your suppliers in the most optimized way possible. Our advanced integration with the machines allows these algorithms to nest with full knowledge of the capabilities and specifications of each machine, allowing for even more efficient use of steel. For example, for plate nesting, the algorithm will position the parts to make common cuts if the machine allows it. In addition to saving raw material, with a reduced skeleton, machining times will be optimized. In the same way, for section nesting, the algorithm will be able to nest two haunches together to save steel, but also to optimize production times because only one cut will be made for two parts. Finally, the savings in consumables can also become significant.
Secondly, our solutions prevent errors throughout the production process, thus limiting raw material loss. For example, all parts to be produced are automatically checked before being sent to production. Programs are created automatically, which also prevents operator errors when they program manually, directly on the CNC. Finally, a certain number of functionalities allow to avoid errors on manual stations. For example, the scribing allows to know the positions of the secondary marks on the main marks. As this information is automatically marked on the parts by the CNC machines, there is no need to manually position the marks of an assembly, which limits the risks of human error. Considering that all parts with errors will end up in the scrap heap, the importance of a reliable process is obvious. Finally, in addition to representing reductions in errors, all of the above benefits result in considerable time savings, leading to improved on-time delivery.
The numerous analysis and other reports that can be edited in Steel Projects PLM highlight all the management data of a project and its production, in order to quantify the gains and losses.
