Before investing in Radan CADCAM software, creating manual nests at Kansas-based Tindle Construction Inc (TCI) took the sheet-metal fabricator several hours, meaning shop-floor personnel moved on to other tasks while the nests were generated. But now a day’s worth of nests are produced in just a couple of minutes.

“This makes a huge difference to us,” states engineering manager Jesse McGinnis. “We have an employee who only programs for half the day, freeing him up to spend the rest of his time on engineering projects. Because of what we’re able to do with Radan, it’s not necessary to have anyone generating nests full time anymore.”

Operating across two divisions – Industrial Services and Fabrication – the company manufactures products for a variety of customers, while also offering design and planning services.

“We have several machines with a lot of different capabilities, and combining those is like playing chess,” says McGinnis. “It’s interesting to see what we can come up with to get the job done, and that’s definitely a challenge I enjoy.”

McGinnis was recruited by TCI specifically for the fabrication side of the business and was tasked with hand-programming the company’s latest laser. TCI eventually invested in a CNC programming solution for the laser, but over time found that the system was significantly limited in efficiency and flexibility. After investigating all options for implementing a new sheet-metal solution, TCI made the switch to Radan.

“I felt like Radan was a better fit for us,” says McGinnis, who also uses the software to program TCI’s waterjet. “We wouldn’t be as efficient as we are without Radan’s nesting and the system’s ability to do what we need.”

Unlike many other solutions for sheet metal, he says Radan also allows the company to edit automatically generated nests.

For further information
www.radan.com