Forty shapes on a sheet, six jobs, one printed sheet
The nest came off the laser: a full sheet of 2mm mild steel holding brackets, gussets, cover plates and spacers for six different jobs. Several brackets look almost the same, one for a job going to powder coat in black and one for a job going to galvanising. The operator has the nest printout, small and grey, and a stack of stillages.
Half an hour later, two brackets are on the wrong stillage. Nobody finds out until the assembler tries to fit them.
Why sorting is harder than cutting
Mixed nesting is good for material use. It moves the complexity from the laser to the person breaking out the nest, who has to identify each part, count it, and send it the right way, often with parts that differ by a hole position or a mirror image.
- Nest printouts are small and hard to read on the shop floor.
- Similar or mirrored parts are easily confused.
- Parts are not marked, so their identity is lost once off the sheet.
- Counts are not recorded, so shortages show up later.
- Next operation, such as brake, weld or finishing, is not shown.
What the mix ups cost
Parts bent, welded or coated for the wrong job. Shortages found at assembly because parts were miscounted or dropped in the skeleton scrap. Recuts of small parts with a full setup. And the time spent at the laser sorting carefully, which slows the machine that is supposed to be the fastest in the shop.
The sorting station we build
- The nest report from your nesting software is read: each part's position on the sheet, part number, job and quantity.
- A screen at the laser shows the nest to scale, with each part coloured by job and marked with its next operation: brake, weld, finishing colour or dispatch.
- Tapping a part on the screen, or scanning the sheet's label, shows its details large enough to read with gloves on.
- Labels are printed per part or per stack, with job, part number, quantity and next operation, and a barcode for scanning at the next step.
- The operator confirms counts per job. Any part not found is flagged as short straight away, with the nest it was on.
- Where your laser can etch or mark parts, we can add part numbers to the nest before cutting, for parts that are easily confused.
| Shown for each part | Why it helps |
|---|---|
| Job colour on the nest image | Parts for each job stand out |
| Next operation | Goes to the right stillage first time |
| Mirror or near duplicate warning | Similar parts separated carefully |
| Count expected | Shortages found at the laser |
| Label with barcode | Identity follows the part |
What changes at the laser
Operators sort from a clear picture instead of a small printout. Parts leave the laser labelled and counted, so the brake and the welders know what they have. Shortages are found while the sheet is still there, not at assembly. The kit and job tracking further down the shop gets accurate counts from the start.
It also makes the job easier for someone new at the laser, who does not yet recognise every part by shape.
Skeleton scrap stops swallowing parts too. Small parts that drop through the slats or stay tabbed into the skeleton are the ones most often lost, and a count that does not match at the laser prompts someone to check the skeleton before it goes in the scrap skip.
Is sorting slowing your laser?
- Parts go to the wrong job after breaking out the nest.
- Operators squint at printed nest sheets.
- Similar or mirrored parts get confused.
- Short parts are found at assembly.
- Parts lose their identity once off the sheet.