Close your eyes and imagine yourself walking through a component manufacturer’s facility. As you do this, some will see a facility with a relatively well-automated wall panel line, in which full sheets of OSB, gypsum, ZIP, etc. are being applied to the wall in line and the router on the multi-function bridge is processing window/door cutouts, MEP openings, etc. For the other group of people, we imagine a facility in which all sheathing is pre-cut (likely on some version of a vertical panel saw) and arranged on carts prior to making its way to the wall line. In this facility, you’re probably imagining many carts filled with pre-cut material, staged up for the day’s production, along with many offcuts (remnants) from the pre-cut material, which the business owner hopes to utilize.
So why do we have these two camps of business owners/operators? Suffice it to say, it seems as though there is a simple divide in manufacturing philosophies. Some companies believe there is a great yield increase (i.e., cost savings) and performance increase of the line by pre-cutting material, whereas some companies do pre-cutting out of “believed” necessity, not being aware of an automated in-line routing solution (e.g., the WEINMANN WALLTEQ). With that being said, some companies believe it’s best to utilize the in-line routing on a multi-function bridge to save space (no separate panel saw location), decrease additional material handling (less labor), reduce carting/kitting, etc. However, with the many factories we’ve visited, the common theme tends to be that whichever camp a customer falls into is based on a feeling (gut check).
The goal of this article is not to sway you towards pre-cut or full sheet material usage, but rather to focus on those companies which are pre-cutting material and offer up some ideas on how to potentially optimize, drive more efficiency, and ultimately push more product through the door day-to-day.
This is going to sound like an advertisement (and kind of is… wink wink) but the HOMAG SAWTEQ (horizontal panel saw) and CENTATEQ (flat table router) are both masters in processing pre-cut sheet material before it heads to the wall and/or floor/ceiling line(s).
The SAWTEQ is focused on cutting rectangles and squares with speed and accuracy, in both single sheets as well as stack cutting for same-patterned material.
The CENTATEQ series offers single-sheet processing but beyond rectangles and squares, meaning the ability to round corners for window/door and/or MEP openings (something a saw blade can’t do).
Now, you’re probably thinking, “yeah, well, so can my vertical panel saw and hand router,” and you’d be right; however, here are a few bulleted areas in which we can help you improve:
- Speed: The ability to stack cut on the SAWTEQ drives higher performance.
- Data Management and Optimization: All data is transferred from your DfMA software to our proprietary Cut Rite optimization software. This allows for a seamless transition from DfMA, which passes the sheathing layer to Cut Rite for optimization. At that point, Cut Rite optimizes your board layout for the highest possible yield.
- Offcut Management: Rather than stacking up your offcuts (remnants) to hopefully use them down the road, Cut Rite stores this data, including the type of board (i.e., OSB, ZIP, gypsum, etc.), size of offcut, etc. Then, Cut Rite will automatically prioritize usage of offcuts in its board library before telling the operator to get another full-size sheet. Historically, we’ve seen some customers increase board yield by more than 20% with better usage of offcuts.
- Labeling: At the outfeed of the SAWTEQ or CENTATEQ, a printer can generate a label to apply to each piece. Either it will print a label which shows the wall layout and where to place the respective part or will print a label specifying it is an offcut. This greatly reduces the time spent at the wall line placing individual, pre-cut parts on the wall.
- Sorting/Kitting: Depending on how material is batched, the SAWTEQ/CENTATEQ, along with the Cut Rite software, can also help batch parts across different jobs for better yield. It then also provides visual queues at the operator stand (by virtual color) of which cart to place each part in (i.e., blue part to Cart 1, green part to Cart 2, etc.).
All that said, we’re not implying that pre-cutting is the right solution over in-line routing (i.e., full sheet usage), but we’ve seen many factories and believe there is a better way to do pre-cutting. If you’re pre-cutting today and would like to dive deeper into what has been said here, or if you’re in the other camp and would like to learn if this might be a fit for you in your current factory, please reach out to us! Contact Stiles Machinery at (616) 698-7500 or visit StilesMachinery.com/OSC to learn more.