In die-cutting processes, material costs represent one of the largest cost items and, at the same time, one of the most easily controlled. Optimised sheet layout using nesting software systematically increases material yield to between 80 and 95 per cent. Product design, material type and die-cutting sequence have a direct impact on the percentage of scrap material. Scrap sheet management and smart batch planning reduce material costs per unit without compromising dimensional accuracy

Materiaalverlies bij stansen is kostbaar omdat het leidt tot hogere materiaalkosten en meer afval.

Material loss in stamping is direct loss: every piece of metal that doesn't end up in a final product is paid material without revenue.

In die-cutting, a shape is cut entirely out of a sheet of metal. What remains – the skeleton or scrap – is, in most cases, no longer of any use. With a non-optimised sheet layout, material loss can amount to 30 to 40% of the purchased sheet material.

For common materials such as DC01 cold-rolled steel, stainless steel 304, or aluminium 5754, the purchase prices per kilogram are significantly higher than for bulk steel. This makes every percentage improvement in material yield directly visible in the cost price per product.

The factors that determine the loss rate:

• Product shape and geometry: round or irregular shapes leave more waste material than rectangular products
• Platform format in relation to product dimensions
• Minimum edge distance required to prevent distortion
• Positioning sequence and the way contours are arranged on the plate
• Series sizes and the way small orders are combined

Nestingoptimalisatie verhoogt het materiaalrendement door het snijpatroon zo efficiënt mogelijk te ontwerpen, om zo de hoeveelheid verspild materiaal te minimaliseren.

Nesting optimisation is the automatic calculation of the most efficient arrangement of product contours on a metal sheet, with the aim of minimising scrap material.

Manual sheet nesting, where an operator decides how products are positioned on the sheet, typically achieves a material utilisation rate of 65 to 75%. Automated nesting software achieves yields of 85 to 95 per cent for complex product mixes, depending on the geometry.

Nesting software optimises on multiple parameters simultaneously:

• Rotation of product outlines: door producten te roteren worden tussenruimtes kleiner
• Interlock nestingThe contours are overlaid when the shape allows it
• Combination of multiple product types on one plate to utilise residual surface
• Adaptation to actual plate dimensions, including tolerances in width and length
• Taking into account the die-cutting order to prevent plate deflection and positional displacement

At Euro-Techniek, nesting optimisation is a standard part of programme preparation, not an optional step. The nesting results are recorded per order, ensuring that material efficiency per batch is measurable and comparable.

Six concrete methods to save material

The greatest material savings are achieved by a combination of design optimisation, smart nesting and targeted remnant management.

1. Product design aligned with platform size

When a product is designed to fit a standard sheet size, such as 1000 x 2000 mm or 1250 x 2500 mm, the number of products per sheet makes better use of the available space. Minor adjustments to the external dimensions can increase yield by 5 to 10 per cent.

2. Applying common ground

Common cutting lines (also known as common line cutting) are used when two products share an identical or parallel outline. The die runs once along the shared line, reducing the gap between products to zero. This is applicable to rectangular and trapezoidal products.

3. Systematically arrange scaffold management

Offcuts – the sections of sheet metal left over after a production run – are disposed of as scrap under an unstructured management system. Under a systematic offcut management system, the dimensions, material type and condition are recorded, and offcuts are used for smaller orders or prototypes.

4. Match material selection to product requirements

Over-specifying materials is a direct cost driver. A product that meets functional requirements in DC04 does not need 316 stainless steel. By basing material selection on technical requirements rather than preference or habit, both the material cost and the weight per product are reduced.

5. Combining series planning across orders

With small production runs, there is often a portion of the sheet left over. By scheduling several small orders involving similar materials onto a single sheet, the overall sheet utilisation improves. This requires a planning system capable of filtering active orders by material and thickness.

6. Minimising tolerances and edge distances

Every product requires a minimum distance from the edge of the sheet and from adjacent contours. These distances are partly determined by the material and the sheet thickness, but in practice are sometimes set wider than necessary. Precise calibration of minimum edge distances for each material type provides additional usable sheet surface area.

Which materials are best suited for optimisation?

Materials with a constant plate thickness, low internal stresses, and a flat surface tolerance provide the most reliable nesting results and the highest material efficiencies.

The most stamped metals at Euro-Techniek are:

• DC01 / DC04 cold rolled steelLow price per kg, good stampability, suitable for high volumes
• S235 / S355 structural steelhigher strength, requires more precise punching settings at greater thicknesses
• RVS 304 and 316: higher material costs make optimisation all the more important; good dimensional stability after stansen
• Aluminium 5754 and 6082lightweight, prone to recoil; nesting optimisation requires corrections for plate buckling
• Copper and brasshigher purchase price; even small improvements in yield have a major cost impact

For materials with a high purchase price, such as 316 stainless steel or copper, a 5% improvement in material yield carries greater weight than it does for standard structural steel. This means that investing in precise nesting is always justified for these materials.

Relationship between cutting sequence and material waste

The die-cutting order, the sequence in which contours are cut, not only affects the cycle time but also the dimensional accuracy and thus the number of rejected products.

An incorrect punching order can lead to:

• Plate bending due to large inner contours being punched out too early, after which the remaining plate no longer lies flat.
• Plate positional shift during the process, resulting in dimensional deviations on subsequent product contours
• Tool damage due to the die working on an already weakened plate zone

An optimised punching sequence always starts with reference holes or positioning contours, works from the outside in, and punches out the largest cut-out shapes last. This principle, set out in the CAM program, prevents rejection due to process disruption and thus indirectly reduces the effective material loss per order.

At Euro-Techniek, the punching sequence is automatically generated based on product geometry and material parameters, and manually corrected by the programmer if necessary. Our expertise in Sheet metal ensures that each parameter is optimally set.

Punching at Euro-Techniek

At Euro-Techniek, material yield and process efficiency are fixed points in the production process, not variables that are redetermined with each order.

We work with automated nesting software, a digital remnant sheet registration system and material-specific cutting programmes calibrated to minimal tolerances. For each new project, we analyse the product geometry, the specified material and the batch size to determine the most material-efficient approach.

Besides stamping, we also offer Laser as an additional editing method for more complex contours. Take contact Euro-Techniek for a technical assessment of your punching project or for information on the material options available within your specifications.

Frequently asked questions