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of parts to nest and, thus, a greater opportunity to compact pieces more tightly together. "Field tests have shown up to 4 percent sav- ings in composite material use with automated nesting compared to manual nesting," he reports. Te sofware enables nest generation and cutting 24/7, to meet peak production needs. Kitting functions automatically label, assign layup order and as- sign other identifers to cut pieces. To identify cut parts and accel- erate the kitting process, Gerber's InfoMark cut-part identifcation system, for example, prints and applies paper labels, or customers can specify InfoJet, which automatically prints alphanumeric text on cut materials, using a variety of inks (including Boeing-spec ink). Lectra's Diamino nesting sofware, developed in-house (Ver- sion 6 is the current iteration), is a key part of Lectra's composites ofering, and Epperson says it is constantly revised and upgraded to achieve greater efciency. "Even small upgrades in the nesting program can signifcantly reduce costly material consumption, and positively impact the bottom line," Epperson claims. Epperson notes that with today's conveyorized cutting beds, nesting programs have become more efcient, because the available nest length is as long as the material roll, a huge beneft because end loss and process setup time are greatly reduced. He cites the case of GKN Aerospace (Cowes, Isle of Wight, U.K.), where to keep pace with lean manufacturing goals, manual and ultrasonic cutting operations were replaced with multiple Lectra tables for single-ply nesting, cutting and marking. Te move signifcantly reduced mate- rial waste, according to Peter Steen, GKN's value stream manager, composite logistics. David Cook, operations manager of Path- fnder USA Inc. (Hickory, N.C.), the U.S. arm of Melbourne, Australia-based Pathfnder Pty. Ltd., says nesting and kitting improvements permit customers that make very long, thin parts to cut pieces longer than the conveyorized bed from the roll in a continuous process. "Te cut pieces are simply caught and folded into a 'cradle' device as the bed advances," he notes. Te company's Path- works CAD system and PathCut cutting sofware, developed in-house, enables manual drag-and- drop of cutting fle pieces, or it can automatically select for best nest efciency. Cook is a proponent of cutting straight from the roll, for the most ef- fcient nests. Pathfnder's "color bundling" feature color-codes each kit's cut pieces on an optional ofoad display screen, a useful feature especially when multiple part kits are cut from multiple rolls of material. Some customers don't want or need a con- veyorized system, but need instead a system that can cut quickly in a prototyping or production setting, ofen where space is limited. Autometrix, therefore, improves throughput via optimized motion control, a feature that Palmer says is especially benefcial when cutting prepregs, for which material out time is a concern. PatternSmith sofware, developed in-house, guides the cut- ting, and has a built-in interface with sofware from Laser Projection Technologies Inc. (LPT, Londonderry, N.H.). Customers, then, can easily integrate LPT's projection system with the cutting process, to guide operators in cut piece pickup order, for kitting applications. Autometrix also integrates its sofware with nesting sofware from Scapos (Scapos AG, Sankt Augustin, Germany) and Nestfab (New Basford, Nottingham, U.K.). "Our sofware allows importing of piece patterns from engineering CAD programs, and then ofers easy-to-use tools to optimize these patterns for very smooth and fast machine cutting," Palmer contends. At Composite Solutions (Auburn, Wash.), whose Autometrix machine cuts prepregs eight hours a day, tooling manager Dave Garrett says, "Te sofware was easy to learn and we decided to add automatic nesting with our new machine. It was a great decision and big time saver." McGruder cites increased interest in Eastman's trademarked EasiSelect sofware. "If you are molding multiple parts that require several diferent materials, it's more efcient to cut everything you need from the frst material roll, one time, then move to the sec- ond roll, and so on." Te sofware analyzes the parts' data, identi- fes the materials they require, nests for minimum waste, then cuts all pieces that can be cut from each material roll at one time, then clearly marks the pieces to indicate which part kit they belong to, before moving to the next roll. Marking can be done via pen, ink jet, air brush or stick-on labels — functions integrated within the cutting head. "Te EasiSelect sofware is very helpful for organizing a company's bill of goods, especially for complex, multicomponent parts," she adds. AXYZ Automation's (Albrighton, Wolverhampton, U.K.) Pan- elBuilder sofware system contains advanced nesting and op- Automated, conveyorized cutting tables come in all sizes, from very long to (as shown here) short, such as these built by Zünd (Alstatten, Switzerland). A longer bed can keep materials fat for pickup (see photo, below right), while a short bed can be equipped with a "cradle" or basket to catch cut materials. American GFM (AGFM, Chesapeake, Va.) and parent company GFM GmbH (Steyr, Austria), offer several types of composites-related machine tools, including this model US-15 fatbed ultrasonic ply cutter, with a 32-ft/9.75m cutting length. Source | AGFM C T J U N E 2 0 1 4 3 3 0614CT CuttKitt-OK.indd 33 5/20/2014 8:48:37 AM