The Cut-to-Length option determines the optimum blank size to use for a particular list of rectangular parts that are to be cut from a coil of fixed or infinite length. Also appropriate for shear cut to length lines for Sheet, Bar and Tube.

Taking the tedium out of shearing and sawing.
While shearing will still be a manual operation, the FastCUT® program will take the tedium out of nesting the patterns, and maximize the use of the material. Shears with programmable backstops can also be linked to FastCUT®. The program begins with entering the list of required widths and lengths. It will then process the part variations within sheets. In can, in fact, test a whole range of processes over a different range of sheets. The beauty of it is that the operator can visualise the sheets on the screen. The program will break down the amount of material into that being used, that which needs to be returned to stock, and that which is scrap. Further, the dimensions of the scrap can be then entered in the program, to ascertain the maximum use for the scrap.

It gives the operator the complete graphics of the cutting required on a particular job. And as the program allows for dates of jobs and materials used, it can also be used as a very simple and basic quoting system.

There's not a lot of software in this price range that affects your bottom line in such an easy, instant and dramatic way. FastCUT® lets even small job shops incorporate powerful nesting efficiencies into their business whether they use manual or automatic cutting. These testimonials are typical of what our customers say about FastCUT®. "I cannot believe how well this software works! Within 30 minutes of installing it, I was saving $$$!! Fastcut takes the guesswork out of determining how much material we need, and how to cut each panel for maximum utilisation of the material. Fastcut now forms the basis of our costing for all our jobs, and I cannot recommend it highly enough " - Paul Ellis, Director, Composite Installations, Sydney "FastCUT saves me more time that I know what to do with....!!!" - Raymond Nelson, A&N CustomFab, Nevada "We have the edge, it helps us win jobs" - Adrian Marino, Southern Steel Supplies "We are very pleased with FastCUT. The simplicity of FastCUT makes it very easy to learn. All out locations have responded very positively and all were up and running witn hours of installation"- Bob Ochtrup from Chicago Tube and Iron.

Fast Summary of Benefits for Office & Factory: Fast (Printed) Cutting List! Produces your 'best price' on material for fast estimates. Quote customers immediately! Use FastCUT to help with ordering. Saves Material "Why cut up more than you have to?" Optimize Sheet, Beams and Coil. Optimizes Remnant before using Standard size Stocks. Produces simple reports for analysis. New version exports a DXF file!

FastCUT^® Powerful™ Optimization Engine.
Optimization for us is about getting the greatest possible yield from material by trying millions of computer generated layouts. Sometimes it is about working out what stock to order in the first place. Even small improvements can result in large savings of material and considerably reduce production costs, maximizing material utilization and minimizing waste. The optimization/nesting technology used today is vastly improved on what it was even several years ago because of the fantastic increase in micro speeds.

Sample Output
To view & print some examples of the Output from FastCUT^®, please select from the links below. Each item is linked to an Adobe Acrobat PDF file. They can be viewed and printed with the aid of the Adobe Acrobat Reader program which is available FREE from the Adobe Web site. (Version 4 or above is required)

• Sample Panel Pattern #1
• Sample Panel Pattern #2
• Sample Panel Pattern #3
• Sample Linear Pattern #1
• Sample Linear Pattern #2
• Sample Report
• All of the above samples in a self-extracting ZIP file.
• View a Brochure on FastCAM Metal Optimizer