Use Nesting Software
Nesting software will arrange the cut profiles of your parts on the sheets of metal to get the best possible use of the material. This can result in significant savings of material that would otherwise be scrap.
Plan Bend Allowances Early
Sheet Metal Fabrication produces far less scrap when bend allowances are calculated before cutting of the part rather than after. By correctly setting the flat-blank for first time cut pieces, there will be less rejected parts and no waste material from test cuts.
Choose the Right Sheet Size
Specifying relevant standard sheet sizes prior to fabrication, and where appropriate making slight modifications to your drawing to utilise full sheets of metal means that large unwanted offcuts are avoided.
Recover and Sort Offcuts
Another aspect of how sheet metal fabrication can contribute to reducing industrial material waste is by the recovery and sorting of offcuts.
Consider Blanking for Repeat Parts
Blanking for repeat parts, for high volume production of similar parts can also reduce waste in production as it allows for a more predictable process. For Sheet Metal Fabrication, see https://dkmsheetmetal.co.uk/.
Small changes to your workflow can prevent huge amounts of scrap metal.
