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Laser Cutting Estimating

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Jennie Miller

Laser cutting is very common in the sheet metal fabrication industry. Not too many years ago, laser cutting was new and estimating accurate costs was a new concept. Now, laser cutting estimating has become much more accurate through software simulations.

The simplest way to estimate laser cutting time and material is using the laser programming software such as Metacam, by Metamation. This way, a flat DXF file can be loaded into the software and the software will accurately estimate the laser time based on a simulation which is cutting the part. The part can also be nested, which gives you a more accurate cutting cutting time based on a nested sheet.

Once the estimated time has been calculated, you will enter that time into the cycle time of the nesting software to calculate your costs. The gas, depreciation, and utilities would be included in your overhead rate, which in turn gives you the cost to run the part.

There are other situations where you do not have a good DXF file and you must estimate by calculating the number of inches, pierces, cut speed, etc. The screen shot above shows where you would create a formula and use that formula to enter values.

The formula will have to be customized for your specific machine and manufacturing process which, in turn, brings consistent estimates. Lastly, a calculator can be created to assist you in determining the number of linear inches of cutting as shown below.

Source: https://www.mie-solutions.com/founders-blog/estimating/laser-cutting-estimating

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Jennie Miller
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