ProNest waterjet nesting software helps Creative Edge Master Shop lay the groundwork for success
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The company and products
Creative Edge Master Shop is a pioneer in the application of waterjet technology, specializing in concept flooring applications such as terrazzo, stone medallions, architectural metals and signage, and artistry in resilient design. Today, they are recognized as one of the nation’s leading providers of architectural waterjet fabrication.
The problem
Harri Aalto, Partner and Vice President, guides the company’s creative direction. Once completed, his elaborate designs are passed on to the CAD/CAM department, who turn his vision into reality. After transferring all the artistic detail into CAD drawing format, the next step in the process is to import these complex files, with every detail, to nesting software. There it is converted to NC code and sent to the shop floor for the waterjet cutting process.
As demand grew for their work, Creative Edge realized it was taking too long to process the CAD files into NC code. The programming system they used was tedious and very time-consuming. The company needed a software solution that would decrease programming time and maximize efficiency.
The solution
Plant Manager Shep Brown described the decision process, “After reviewing several other waterjet nesting software packages, the ProNest® software was clearly the right choice for Creative Edge. The software is simple to use, easy to learn, and the support staff is knowledgeable and willing to adapt to our specific needs, plus the total investment in the software was far less than other packages with similar functionality.”
The benefits
ProNest software can open an artistic CAD file and automatically section off each tile to be processed on the waterjet in a matter of minutes – an operation that used to take hours. ProNest now processes jobs in 5 to 10 minutes that used to take between 30 minutes and 8 hours using the old software. An entire stone medallion can be opened in ProNest and each tile type will automatically be batch-nested in one master program.
Building off the successful ProNest implementation, Creative Edge is planning even more innovative programming techniques to further utilize ProNest in the future.
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