Concrete manufacturer saves big with ProNest nesting software

Company overview

Construction Products, Inc. (CPI), of Des Moines, Iowa, is a division of EFCO Corporation. EFCO specializes in quality manufacturing, innovative designing, engineering, drafting, and providing support for construction projects all over the world. CPI manufactures concrete forming systems, serving a worldwide customer base that spans most major industrial segments.

Challenge: Increases in steel prices require better material utilization

Due to dramatic increases in global mild steel sheet metal and plate pricing – the primary materials used by CPI in its product fabrication – CPI decided to evaluate different approaches to managing costs and maintaining profitability. As part of this process, CPI completed an extensive evaluation of nesting software as a means to help improve material utilization, increase efficiency, and ensure the greatest return on investment.

Solution: Hypertherm’s ProNest software improves material utilization

CPI selected Hypertherm’s ProNest^® software as their nesting solution for programming on all cutting machines, including plate and rotary tube cutting. ProNest’s intuitive interface design made it easy for CPI’s staff to quickly learn and use the program, allowing the company to smoothly transition away from its existing, less efficient software. Today, CPI has trained each machine operator to use ProNest, and programming is done while the machines are cutting, with operators using workstations on the shop floor.

The power of advanced part nesting software

With the right CAD/CAM nesting software, companies can consolidate all of their programming into a single software solution, including support for multiple cutting processes such as plasma, laser, oxyfuel, and waterjet, as well as control combination punch, drilling, bevel cutting, and more.

Advanced nesting software delivers immediate increases in material utilization due to the sophisticated algorithms and optimization techniques that are used with automatic nesting. Even a small percentage improvement in material usage can add up to significant savings in source materials, so advanced nesting software often pays for itself fairly quickly. At the same time, better part quality from built-in process expertise leads to less secondary part cleanup, enabling productivity improvements.

Advanced nesting software supports collision avoidance, which automatically avoids part tip-ups on the plate without the need for a full head raise, thereby drastically reducing cut-to-cut cycle times. It also has skeleton cut-up capability, automatically adding skeleton lines – before or after cutting parts – to make it easier and safer to remove skeleton material from the table and recycle it.

Nearly all CAD/CAM nesting programs can import standard DXF and DWG CAD files, and advanced nesting software will come with additional options. It may come with its own integrated 2D CAD program, a variable shape parts library, direct 3D CAD import, and more.

Advanced CAD/CAM nesting software will support enterprise resource planning (ERP), manufacturing resource planning (MRP), and manufacturing execution system (MES) integrations.

• ERP software offers a broad range of solutions covering everything from manufacturing, to finance, to human resources, and more.

• MRP solutions cover areas like quoting, inventory, work orders, and shipping.

• MES solutions focus on monitoring and controlling production processes on the shop floor, capturing data from various sources – including machines, sensors, and operators – and providing accurate, real-time information about production activities. 

With nesting work connected to all these other areas of the business, companies can eliminate manual and redundant tasks that exist in the workflow. Jobs can be managed, tracked, and combined more easily, and inventory is better managed for faster turnover – increasing profitability.

Advanced CAD/CAM nesting software, like Hypertherm’s ProNest nesting software, can support virtually all machine brands and models.

ProNest nesting software

ProNest is an industry-leading CAD/CAM nesting software designed for advanced mechanized cutting. It offers the highest level of cutting expertise and provides a single solution for all profile cutting needs – including plasma, laser, waterjet, and oxyfuel. ProNest’s powerful, high-yield nesting is designed to supercharge cutting operations, enabling fabricators and manufacturers to increase material utilization, boost productivity, lower operating costs, and improve part quality.  

ProNest’s intuitive screens and a wide variety of helpful features make it easy to learn and use. Its faster, fully automated interface can reduce programming time from hours to minutes, while specialized cutting techniques can reduce total cut time by up to 50%.

ProNest is designed to work with virtually any ERP, MRP, or MES program. These integrations can extend ProNest’s efficiencies more broadly across the organization.

Unlimited access to technical support, training, and software updates is included with ProNest, ensuring every user gets the most value from their ProNest software.

Business impact: 5% savings on material utilization delivers rapid ROI

ProNest has enabled CPI to significantly increase material utilization, decreasing material costs. Using ProNest has also improved efficiency in programming, reducing the amount of time required to program cuts and decreasing labor costs.

CPI’s investment in ProNest has delivered a return on investment many times over, and as material costs continue to climb, promises to offer even greater savings in the future. The company is very impressed with the results.

Learn how ProNest nesting software can help your business increase material utilization, decrease labor costs, and improve productivity. Click the button below, fill out the form, and a Hypertherm product expert will contact you.