Kerf
Cutting plans that consume the material you already paid for before new stock is purchased.
- Category
- Material optimization
- Model
- SaaS
- Core platform
- ALIA Constraint Engine
- Status
- IN DEVELOPMENT
01 Problem
Fabricators buy new sheet and plate while paid-for remnants sit unrecorded on racks. Nobody knows what offcuts exist, so nesting starts from fresh stock and the remnant pile grows until it is scrapped.
The cost is material bought twice: once as a sheet, and again as the remnant nobody could find.
02 Specification
This is the specification we are building toward. The status column shows what exists today.
- Live remnant and offcut inventoryIN PROGRESS
Every offcut above a usable threshold is recorded with its geometry, material and location as cutting happens.
IN PROGRESS - Remnant-first nestingPROTOTYPE
Cutting and nesting plans consume recorded remnants before any new sheet is touched.
PROTOTYPE - Grain, kerf and thickness constraintsIN PROGRESS
Nesting respects grain direction, kerf width and thickness so parts cut from remnants come out usable.
IN PROGRESS - Multi-material and multi-sheet supportPLANNED
A single cutting list can resolve across mixed materials, gauges and sheet sizes.
PLANNED - DXF and CAM integrationPLANNED
Part geometry comes in as DXF and cut plans go out to the CAM and machine formats shops already run.
PLANNED - Waste and savings reportingPLANNED
Savings are reported in dollars of material not purchased, not only in utilization percentages.
PLANNED - Purchase deferral recommendationsPLANNED
When remnant stock can cover upcoming work, the system says so before the purchase order goes out.
PLANNED - Counter-speed solve timesPLANNED
Nesting solves fast enough to run at the saw or the front counter while the customer waits.
PLANNED - Remnant labeling and location trackingPLANNED
Printed labels and rack locations make a recorded remnant a findable remnant.
PLANNED
Updated as capabilities ship. BUILT means working and validated; nothing gets that label early.
03 System
- 01Cutting lists
- 02Remnant inventory
- 03Constraint nesting
- 04Cut plans
- 05Savings ledger
04 Engineering
Constraint core
Kerf runs its nesting on the ALIA Constraint Engine. Remnant geometry, grain direction, kerf and thickness are modeled as hard constraints, and the solve is staged: a fast placement pass returns a workable plan at counter speed, and refinement passes recover additional material while the operator prepares the cut.
Deployment model
The system runs at the shop, on ordinary shop PCs, and works offline. The remnant ledger is local first, so a lost connection never blocks a cut, and part geometry never has to leave the building for a plan to be produced.
Integration surface
Part geometry arrives as DXF, cut plans leave in the CAM and machine formats the shop already runs, and labels print on the printers the shop already owns. The remnant ledger updates from the cut plan itself, so recording an offcut is a byproduct of cutting rather than a new chore.
05 Why this is hard
The genuine problem is producing high-quality nests quickly against an inventory that changes with every cut. Classical nesting assumes clean rectangular stock and generous solve times; remnants are irregular, constrained by grain, kerf and thickness, and the answer is needed while a customer waits at the counter. The engineering work is search strategies that trade optimality for speed gracefully and never return a plan that cannot be cut.
06 Design constraints
- Solves at counter speed
- Never emits a plan that cannot be cut
- Works offline on ordinary shop PCs
- Remnant recording is a byproduct, not a task
- Part geometry stays on site
07 Design partner program
Design partner program.
We are looking for a small number of design and pilot partners. A partner gets the problem solved for their operation first, direct influence on the specification above, and pilot pricing. In exchange we get reality: real constraints, real data, real operators. No external partner is engaged on this product yet.