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News
Polygon Software’s Automated Cut Planning Reduces
Fabric and Labor Costs
Fully Integrated with Polygon’s PLM and ERP solution, the latest Cut Planning upgrade features automated calculation of the lowest cost marking solutions for apparel businesses, proving far more effective than manually created marking plans.
Baltimore, MD – May 22, 2011 -- Polygon Software, a leading developer
of Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) and Enterprise Resource Planning
(ERP) solutions for apparel businesses, today announced that the latest
upgrade to PolyPM Cut Planning features automated calculation of the
lowest cost cut plans for production orders. PolyPM’s automated cut
planning utilizes heuristic algorithms that enable the software to evaluate
hundreds of thousands of solutions in a few seconds. The end result
is that PolyPM Cut Planning suggests possible solutions based on a logical
consideration of costs rather than a cut planner's gut instinct.
In a typical production order, the potential solutions are frequently infinite. Manually created solutions tend to follow a rigid structure that the marker planner deploys because it develops results in a reasonable amount of time. These solutions tend to result in more markers, more sizes and lower spread plies. A marker planner cannot possibly evaluate all of the possible combinations, so they tend to result in solutions that are workable, but have a higher cost than automated solutions in term of labor and fabric consumption.
PolyPM’s Cut Planning module helps users build an optimum marker plan and spreads for efficient production. Fully integrated with PolyPM’s Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) module, all aspects of the production process including markers, fabric, and estimated material requirements are available with each production order. By working with integrated cut planning, businesses are able to maintain their production data in one central database which creates a more efficient operation and reduces errors.
Automated calculation of cut plans offers a significant reduction in fabric consumption by finding the optimum solution given order quantities and taking into consideration variables such as maximum table length, fabric cost and marking, spreading and layup costs. By considering thousands of potential solutions in a few seconds the suggested results are far superior to manually produced marker plans and take much less time than solutions calculated manually by a marker planner. As a result, businesses using PolyPM’s Cut Planning are able to reduce both fabric and labor costs, contributing directly to more efficient operation and improved margins.
Cut Planning uses an efficient three-step process that begins with planning the optimum markers and total plies required. Based on this information, a spread plan is automatically created that shows the required markers, marker lengths, material plies, and relationships to the cuts. When the spread plan is approved, cut orders are also automatically created, saving the labor intensive time associated with manually building cut orders. PolyPM automatically calculates the materials required for each Cut Order and will adjust material requirements based on actual requirements, rather than estimated requirements. Cut Planning helps businesses reduce errors and save fabric by:
Automatically calculating required plies and remaining units as markers are added to a plan.
Reducing cut planning time and generating Cut Orders automatically from the Marker/Spread Plan.
Calculating material requirements based on actual marker lengths and automatically adjusting requirements in each Cut Order.
Maintaining a library of active markers that can be reused.
Automatically adjust production quantities with balanced Marker Plan, adjusting secondary material requirements when primary material quantities are adjusted.
Integrated material withdrawal enables users to select the best rolls of fabric needed to complete a cut.
Reports that show Spread Plan, Cuts, markers in a cut, rolls needed for a cut, actual versus estimated comparisons, plus much, much more and user-defined reports.
Determine which sizes to put in each marker, fabric plies, marker and fabric spread sequence.
Work-in-process integration to track cut order production at the bundle level.
Web-enabled, using Microsoft SQL database engine, PolyPM integrates all aspects of the design through production process: product development, costing, sourcing, manufacturing, inventory, sales, distribution and now production planning. By integrating business processes and people anywhere in the world, businesses use PolyPM to realize more efficient workflow, improved productivity and cost reductions. PolyPM creates an environment that lets management get decision making information when and how it needs it, to ensure faster time-to-market and exploit new business opportunities. Plus, PolyPM is flexible enough to change with business conditions, so management won’t need a cadre of programmers to customize and restructure the system as business conditions change.
About Polygon Software
Polygon Software has a long and prestigious history of developing advanced software applications for the apparel industry. Starting in the 1970’s, the founders of Polygon developed the first CAD/CAM system for apparel manufacturers, the AM-1. Today this system is the worlds leading apparel CAD/CAM system marketed by Gerber Technology. In the 1980’s Polygon introduced PolyNest, the first open apparel CAD/CAM software running under Microsoft Windows. PolyNest revolutionized the way apparel CAD was distributed by enabling end-users to acquire their software and hardware from multiple sources. Polygon's latest product, PolyPM, is the first product to integrate PLM and ERP into a single solution, automating the transition from design to manufacturing. PolyPM transforms the way small to mid-sized brands, distributors and manufacturers operate, by providing information technology that previously was only available to the “big-guys”, in a system that lets users independently customize their installation to reflect their business practices. For more information, please visit www.polypm.com.
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