Olaf Körner, product manager for Radan says: “The number of mouse clicks needed to use automatic nesting or work on a 3D model has been reduced by around half, making workflow much easier.”
The newly developed quick nest mode in Radan 2020.0 provides a more visual interface, with limited upfront set-up for projects, while a redesigned ‘new project’ dialog allows users to “get nesting quicker”. Time benefits can also be achieved with machine-specific projects and templates.
“The template contains automation,” reports Körner. “For example, a fibre-laser template will switch to your correct laser machine and put in all the settings needed.”
As well as a quicker start to projects, it is also easier for users to pick up on previous projects. The newly created streamlined mode benefits from reduced mouse travel and an autosave function so that work is never lost. Ease of use ensures the software is simple to learn and allows more complex projects to be completed efficiently.
Complex projects can also be achieved using the newly introduced punching tool type. Punching plays an important part of the manufacturing process, and Körner says customers are getting more creative with their tooling for punch presses, to set them apart from lasers. For instance, there is now a newly created tool type in the tool editor for flattening features.
Radtube sees further improvements to the common line cutting feature, added in the previous release. In version 2020.0, users can optimise the nest, either by material usage or by cycle time. When optimising the cycle time, the nest starts looking for common cuts more aggressively.
“It doesn’t sacrifice all the material usage, but does look harder for opportunities to use common line cutting,” explains Körner. “This gives the customer a choice between using as little material as possible, or optimising the cycle time. As common line cutting is becoming increasingly popular, customers asked us to allow their old legacy parts to be nested for it, too. They want Radan to assume those parts can be common cut, if it’s safe. So we’ve brought in automatic common cut selection on legacy parts.”
Radtube reporting has also been improved to include QR codes, bar codes and images, making the recognition of parts simpler and more accurate. The reports can be output automatically, and in the required format.
In Radan 2020.0, Radquote has been enhanced with many updates, a highlight being the newly developed nesting engine for material calculations. This feature has the ability to increase the number of orders won due to its accurate and achievable estimates. As soon as a quote turns into an order, Radquote automatically exports all the information needed, in the form of a PDF file for records, for emailing to the customer as an order confirmation, or as data in CSV or text format. This functionality can be seamlessly linked to the company’s ERP/MRP system.
A new Radquote feature, ‘Customer Specific Import Template’, allows information such as DXF files to be automatically analysed according to the specific customer by setting up a template.
“This can greatly improve the workflow, as without it, the file would need to be manipulated, which can be time consuming,” says Körner.
A default delivery time can also be added automatically to the quote along with a calculation for delivery costs based on a newly added ‘distance’ field for customer data.
“As delivery costs will be more for a customer who’s 200 miles away, than for a customer just 20 miles away, when setting up a customer in Radquote you can now specify how far away they are,” explains Körner. “This is used in a formula to calculate, with the order weight, the total delivery costs.”
Radbend now has additional monitoring in place which checks the unfold geometry in a number of stages to ensure it is manufacturable.
“For example, automatic checks can be carried out for holes too near to bends,” says Körner. “Analysing the part, we can see whether the design is manufacturable in terms of whether any holes in the component are going to be deformed by the bending process.”
Further checks have also been added to support intermediate bends, breaking down the process into two steps where needed, to ensure accurate results. Previously, this function could only be accomplished by physically changing the model and making different bends and stages. The new feature thus saves a considerable amount of time.
