Brunswick Steel’s 5,574 sq. m fabrication operation in Winnipeg, MB, produces a lot of parts for a diverse customer range in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Northwestern Ontario, so manufacturing efficiencies are critical to the company’s success.
That’s why the shop has invested in modern fabricating equipment and an ERP management system. A key part of its strategy is nesting software. Clint Worbanski, CAN manager, says one of the main reasons the company selected SigmaNest software was because of its ability to communicate with its ERP software system via SigmaTEK’s SimTrans, an online transaction manager that serves as a bridge between the nesting software and ERP/MRP systems, order entry and other management software systems.
“It allows our order entry and inventory software, called Stratix (by Invera) to ‘talk’ to SigmaNEST in real time and keep up to date information. When a task is posted, the Jobset is created automatically in Stratix.”
SimTrans automatically converts 2D or 3D CAD files into ready-to-nest SigmaNEST parts. It’s compatible with TXT, CSV and other common input file types.
Worbanski says he also likes that nesting software is easy to use.”You can set it up as simple or as complicated as you need it to be.”
Perhaps the most impressive fact is the significant improvement in nesting efficiency.
“Because of SigmaNEST and SimTrans, we have gone from nesting one process in six hours to nesting five processes in four hours.”
The latest version of SigmaNEST CAD/CAM nesting program, Version 10, is designed for laser, plasma, waterjet, oxyfuel, router, punch, press brake and tube/pipe cutting operations. Users can import files directly from CAN/CAM vendors, and assemblies are imported quickly and nested.
For Worbanski, the automation factor was another plus. “I have only used one other nesting software before and that was keyboard input heavy, including manually inputting orders and the inventory, where now all that is automatically done and the rest is point and click.”
Called AutoNEST, the automation component of SigmaNEST’s software offers automatic pattern recognition, accurate cost and time estimators, drag, drop and bump features, as well as automatic and manual rectangular nesting. One software programs all major profile cutting machines, an advantage for Brunswick Steel, which uses a variety of fabricating processes in its shop.
Brunswich Steel is a general line metals service centre that handles sheet plate and long products. Steel fabricating processing operations include laser, flame, plasma/oxy-fuel, waterjet and saw cutting equipment, drilling, rolling, bending, shearing, welding and machining, as well as sandblasting and painting prep and finishing operations.
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