Above: Integrating the shop floor cutting process with the business ERP can simplify production.
February, 2025- As manufacturers, service centers and fabricators continue applying lean manufacturing principles, timesaving software tools can lead to competitive advantages. Key to lean manufacturing is an integrated ERP system that manages the business from quote to cash. Many job shops, fabricators and service centers also use nesting software but some of these companies are not enlisting a nesting interface to connect to their ERP system. Without this interface, operators find themselves re-entering data in the nesting software that can result in potential time delays and human errors—conditions that are the antithesis to lean manufacturing. A nesting interface plug-in is a solution to save users valuable time. “Nesting software provides measurable improvement over the old manual process [of arranging part shapes to be cut on a sheet of metal]. However, it has one major limitation—it can’t talk to your ERP system,” explains Silas Fulsom, custom development team lead for Global Shop Solutions.
Many ERP providers, including Global Shop Solutions, offer a nesting interface—a plug-in that integrates the shop floor cutting process by allowing the ERP system and nesting software to exchange data. “Instead of going back and forth between each software to manually re-enter the data, the entire process is simplified and synchronized, providing multiple opportunities for time savings and process improvement,” says Fulsom. By automating the exchange of data between ERP and nesting software, a service center can free up personnel and minimize the potential for human error in data entry.
Fulsom points to nesting software packages from providers like ProNest and SigmaNEST. He also cites five benefits to job shops that leverage nesting interface software. These include tighter inventory control; improved waste management; more accurate estimating; optimized time and material utilization; and reduced costs and errors.
INVENTORY CONTROL
“Nesting software can optimize your material usage and reduce scrap, but it can’t determine how much material you have in inventory and how much of it is available for any given job. With an ERP nesting interface, you can do both,” notes Fulsom. An ERP inventory management module can track inventory down to exact sizes and shapes. When synced to nesting software, the ERP system will identify the optimal sheet or plate in inventory for the project. The result is streamlined inventory and scrap optimization. “Many manufacturers also have a boneyard—an area out back or in some remote corner of the warehouse where material remnants often sit unused until they are eventually scrapped. With a nesting interface, your ERP inventory module can automatically notify the nesting software of these materials, turning them into highly managed and tracked extensions of your regular inventory,” says Fulsom.
MINIMIZE SCRAP
Integrating the nesting software with an ERP system can automatically create and receive material drops for improved usage of leftover material. “Even with nesting software, it can be difficult to utilize an entire piece of material, especially when grouping different jobs on the same piece,” explains Fulsom.
Operators can send nesting data directly to a job shop’s ERP for better scheduling, estimating and inventory usage.
He gives an example of a job shop needing to cut a 3-foot by 5-foot piece from an 8-foot by 10-foot piece of material. “Using the cut details data from the nesting software, your ERP system will assign a new part number to the cut piece, providing a permanent record of when you created it and what part number it came from. The ERP software will also create a new part number for the drop and record the quantity. It’s all done automatically, and it all comes from the ability for ERP and nesting software to communicate with each other,” notes Fulsom.
Integrating the nesting software with an ERP system can help reduce material waste by effectively using scrap and material drops.
ESTIMATING
When nesting data is linked to shop floor machines and personnel, an ERP system can apply this knowledge to quickly generate project estimates with accuracy and consistency. “A nesting interface lets you get jobs to the floor faster by electronically inserting them into flexible schedules or cut lists. A scan of a bar code or the push of a button is all it takes to get employees working on the job,” Fulsom says.
TIME AND MATERIAL
Nesting software allows fabricators and ser - vice centers to group parts from different jobs onto the same piece of material. In the past, this task was performed manually, tapping into the knowledge banks of individual employees. An ERP nesting interface performs this task automatically, removing the reliance upon institutional knowledge and saving time.
“Integrating your ERP cut list application with your nesting soft - ware also tells you the number of work orders currently in the queue that can fit on your current piece of material from inventory. This saves time and money by allowing shop floor employees to clock in to a single cut list instead of multiple work orders. The nesting interface also communicates the amount of time required to complete projects to your ERP software, making it easier to update estimates,” adds Fulsom.
REDUCED COSTS
“An ERP nesting interface saves you money. Period,” states Fulsom. “Without a nesting interface integrating with your ERP software, a manufacturer must commit man-hours to an individual (or multiple individuals) to type in data to both your ERP software and your nesting software,” he says. When a fabricator or service center uses an ERP nesting interface, employee time can be diverted from data entry to customer support or more value-added services.
Fulsom warns that although there are several reliable nesting interface software products on the market, each is slightly different, with unique options and configurations. “As a result, there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all nesting software. Which means your ERP provider must offer a customized interface (plug-in) that works with your nest - ing software,” he says.
With a little time invested in researching nesting interfaces, an operator has the opportunity to save a lot of time in the long run.
Global Shop Solutions, 800/364-5958, globalshopsolutions.com
