Booth Muirie

Location: Glasgow - Scotland

Working in conjunction with Booth Muirie Fleming Software has produced an extension to Automatic Machining to optimise the production of architectural cladding panels made from Aluminium Composite Material (ACM), typically Alucobond, Reynobond, Dibond or Alpolic.

Booth Muirie purchased a flat bed router, but after installation they found they could not feed it fast enough to get a return on their investment, so they contacted Fleming Software, who proposed an extension to Automatic Machining; the ACM Fabrication Module. The software takes 2D flat pattern panel drawings created in AutoCAD using outside view dimensions, it applies a fold allowance adjustment to straight, curved or compound bends to create a correct flat pattern for ACM material, and it converts bend lines to groves, and it also makes intelligent adjustments to chamfer corner notches and for bolted bends. The system operates with almost total automation to process large batches of panels through to NC programs for nested sheets to be cut on the router. As a by-product it reads information from the drawing, calculates the visible surface area of the panels, and feeds an external production control system.

Before the combined investment in the machine tool plus the software each panel required 2 drawings, up to 4 work centres and up to 7 operations. After the investment this was reduced to 1 drawing, up to 2 work centres, and a maximum of 4 operations per panel, as shown in the diagram below. This represents a reduction from between one and two man hours for each panel, to 10 man-minutes for any complexity of part.

Recently the system has been extended to include an ACM Material Requirement Planning module and an ACM Estimating System. The ACM material is high value with many colour and texture options, so it is purchased to order for each job. The ACM MRP program allows the user to enter the estimated panel sizes, the prime sheet sizes available, it keeps track of any re-usable off-cuts from previous batches, and it calculates the raw material to be purchased. The ACM Estimating System allows the rapid creation and control of project cost estimates and quotations, and provides post-order information for engineering and production users.

Fleming Software is now working in partnership with suppliers of flat bed routers to offer this software solution to other customers working with ACM material. We can offer software only or combined machine tool and software solutions. As well as architectural cladding panels the system could be applied equally to sign writing, woodwork or plastic, any application that requires only two and a half axis machining and uses high value sheet material to be cut on a flat bed router.