January 2012
Customer Highlight: Vermeer Corporation
More and more high-end fiber laser cutting systems such as Salvagnini, Cincinnati, and others are finding their way onto the shop floor at some leading manufacturing facilities. But advanced fabrication tools are only half the story. In order to reap the full benefits of any cutting tool, and especially high-end laser systems, the process must be driven with best-in-class nesting software. Today SigmaNEST® is being successfully employed on the Salvagnini fiber laser cutting system.
With headquarters in Pella, Iowa, Vermeer Corporation manufactures a wide assortment of industrial and agricultural products. Having recently purchased a Salvagnini fiber laser cutter, the company is one example of a manufacturer who is discovering the powerful benefits of driving nesting with SigmaNEST. "Our Salvagnini fiber laser system, together with SigmaNEST, allows us to solidify our reputation for delivering quality and innovative products to meet the needs of current and future customers," explained Kevin Stauner, Manufacturing Engineer at Vermeer. "Advanced part nesting features with SigmaNEST help accelerate productivity while reducing scrap. Together SigmaNEST and Salvagnini are providing Vermeer Corporation with new levels of manufacturing flexibility and efficiency."
While manufacturing activity is today clearly riding a building wave of momentum, lessons from previous economic instability nonetheless remain at the forefront for most manufacturing companies. Investment decisions are being scrutinized in terms of both long-lasting and exponential company-wide impact. This is true for major capital investments, such as advanced cutting tools, as well as the robust functionality of the software tools driving them.
"With pinpoint accuracy and shape-cutting flexibility, today's fiber laser systems represent a quantum leap in fabrication technology. These tools have been aptly described as being a sharper knife – especially with regard to lighter gage material," said SigmaTEK President and CEO, Ben TerreBlanche. "However, putting these machines into production requires a serious capital investment. It is therefore imperative that manufacturers begin recouping costs as quickly as possible. The way to achieve this is to augment these systems with the speed and efficiency of SigmaNEST. Anything else is a step backward."
John Leuzinger is Director of the SigmaTEK Services Group. His team provides custom development and consulting services to a growing number of customers seeking to leverage and extend the capabilities of SigmaNEST throughout fabrication and related business processes. Read John's answers to questions concerning SigmaTEK Services.
1.Can you provide some background on the SigmaTEK Services Group?
Leuzinger: First of all, I want to thank SigmaNEWS for giving us the opportunity to better inform our customers about the Services Group. The short answer to your question is that since the SigmaNEST software is constantly evolving, so are the ways people are using it. Today, the technology reaches beyond the cutting machine and extends across the shop floor into a variety of manufacturing and related business processes. A growing number of our customers are beginning to re-examine SigmaNEST applications and their payback beyond CAD/CAM nesting. To help these customers understand where and how improvements can best be made, the SigmaTEK Services Group was formed.
2. What specific services does the SigmaTEK Services Group provide?
Leuzinger: Our services include advanced SigmaNEST training, on-site or remote SigmaNEST consulting, custom-written plugins or applications, legacy data migration, specialized reports, standard shape development, and discovery phase consulting. In addition to these services, we offer software solutions such as SimTrans, which facilitates the integration of SigmaNEST with business systems, and products like Machine Console and Color Offload Screen for shop-floor operations.
3. What does a typical services engagement look like?
Leuzinger: As you might guess, there's really no such thing as a typical project. While companies across the board utilize similar cutting machines and processes, there are generally major differences in desired outcomes, opportunities, and challenges. Despite this, we'll begin each engagement by stepping back to analyze and quantify the customer's existing processes. This allows us to best determine where--and to what extent--the capabilities of SigmaNEST, or other products, may be used to improve areas such as nest-programming, cutting-machine performance, and business-system integration. Our end goal is always the same -- a robust and sustainable solution.
4. Are certain types of companies better candidates for your services than others?
Leuzinger: While we have worked with companies of various types and sizes, there are certain indicators that can signal opportunities for SigmaTEK to deliver sustained improvements. A few examples would be, say, if a company believes they would benefit from integrating SigmaNEST with their ERP/MRP business system, or maybe they are contemplating moving from static nesting to more dynamic nesting, or perhaps they're frustrated that existing systems just don't seem to "talk to each other" effectively. In any of these cases, they should definitely give us a call. I would have them contact our business process consultant, Keith Brown, at 513-674-0005 or by email at servicesgroup@sigmanest.com. Keith will be happy to learn more about your company and discuss how the Services Group might be able to assist.
Tech Tip: Creating Multiple SigmaNEST Users
The ability to create multiple SigmaNEST users is not only useful for a single facility with a number of programmers creating individual preferences, but also offers increased functionality for companies with dispersed departments and facilities. Creating users for each facility provides the ability to work remotely. You can view stock, work orders, parts, and programs while creating nests and post code for machines. This set-up allows manufacturers the ability to leverage tools and resources more fully across the extended enterprise.
In order to create multiple users, all facilities must be on the same LAN network. Once this is confirmed, follow these steps to create multiple users:
- In the ribbon click Tools Help Tab, then User Setup.
- Next select Add User and create a profile name. Make sure to check the Profile by User Name box. This will allow you to separate the profiles that have been created.
- Select username and then click the "Login as" button.
- Click Config, then select the Paths Tab.
- Set all the paths to match the other facility. UNC or mapped drive path names can be used.
- Go to the Database tab and point to the other facility's SigmaNEST database instance on the SQL Server.
- As a final step click Ok.
You are now able to log into SigmaNEST using multiple user names. Simply double click the user name you would like to work in or select the Ask User Name option to prompt user selection at SigmaNEST start up.
