Product Showcase Video: Nesting Workflows in Fulcrum

In this video, Fulcrum Marketing Manager Josiah Bondy walks through how to create nests while quoting, recommended grouping work orders, and how Fulcrum reads files to automate data entry.
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Transcript:

Hi everyone, I'm Josiah, and today we're going to talk about nesting. I'll show you how to quickly create nests while quoting, how nest planning recommends grouping work across orders, and how Fulcrum reads files to automate data entry. At the end, I'll also walk through how Fulcrum captures and reallocates actual costs for nested parts back to the job for more accurate job costing.

Let’s start with nesting parts on a quote. The goal of this tool is to help your sales team quote faster while getting closer to actual material costs for the parts. To nest parts, Fulcrum needs three things: a raw material on the BOM, a cutting operation, and a DXF file of the parts you're creating. Once you have items that meet these criteria, a nest planning section will appear in the bottom left. To generate a nest, simply click "Update Nest." Fulcrum knows the weight and cost per pound of the raw materials, which, combined with the DXF file, allows it to calculate the material cost of each part. This automatically updates the unit price on the quote to include the estimated material cost for each item, helping your sales team quickly see material estimates based on the actual part files.

Next, let’s look at nest planning across multiple orders. Fulcrum automates much of the decision-making for nesting, pulling DXF files from all the jobs in Fulcrum and suggesting groups to nest based on material, machine type, and the current production schedule. By selecting a recommendation, a flyout will show the available parts along with their due dates. This helps you choose which parts to group without compromising shop throughput. After selecting the parts, click "Create New Nest," and Fulcrum will package all the DXF files for each selected job into a zip file for easy upload into your nesting software. Once you arrange the parts in your nesting software, drop a nesting PDF into Fulcrum, and it will read the file to import material usage per part, machine time per part, number of individual setups, and the parts located on each setup, saving you time on data entry and helping set you up for more accurate job costing.

Since Fulcrum only requires a PDF like this one to get data from your nesting software, it works with nearly all nesting software on the market. After importing the nest, a new work order grouping the parts is automatically created and ready for approval. Using the runtimes from the nesting PDF and due dates for each job, Fulcrum’s auto-schedule feature places the work order in the optimal time slot.

Over in the shop floor interface, called job tracking, you can see the work order created and scheduled automatically, ready for an operator on the laser. Just click on the card to open the work order, start the timer, and begin laser setup. On the right, you’ll find detailed nesting information where you can review individual nest sheets, verify part layouts, choose the correct sheet size from inventory, and enter any remnants. Fulcrum will auto-populate this remnant field based on the nest, but operators can update these sizes if adjustments were made during the cutting process, keeping inventory up to date.

Finally, once complete, Fulcrum automatically allocates setup labor, machine time, and material costs to individual parts, ensuring precise job costing with minimal data entry. All these tools are designed to streamline your nesting workflow and track nested parts from start to finish, giving you a better understanding of where your resources are going.

Let us know if you have any questions in the comments, and check out our product showcase on our YouTube channel if you haven’t already. Watch the materials video too, as material and nesting are closely linked, helping you understand how Fulcrum tracks raw materials and remnants. Enjoy!

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This transcript was written with the help of AI.