• Digital Transformation

SHEET HAPPENS III: How to use nesting explorer

  • Advanced Manufacturing
When tackling a CNC job at Lantek, the first thing I am asked to do is create the complete job, which includes programming all the parts in sub-jobs on the different machines in the workshop together with the qualities, thicknesses, and sheet metal formats of the material.

Artificial Intelligence, the symbiosis between human and machine

  • Advanced Manufacturing
Contrary to popular belief, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not going to replace people, but should rather be seen as an ally, given that it’s more geared towards optimizing business processes, such as task automation processes. The most widespread AI is currently based on learning from questions and suggestions made to humans to deal with the challenges presented by the different processes. Full automation is only possible in very simple processes, generally with little added value.

Smart pricing

  • Advanced Manufacturing
It is generally quite difficult to know exactly how much each process contributes to a product’s value chain. The sheet metal world is not immune to the difficulty of estimating the right price for the product. There is an infinite number of processes that add value to a product: material used, scrap generated, cutting time, consumables used, labor associated with production, miscellaneous indirect costs, etc.