JETCAM launches composite material life management software

JETCAM International s.a.r.l. today announced the launch of its Material Life Management (MLM) software for composite materials.

The software, a part of JETCAM's Application Server system, provides complete tracking of material life, from delivery of the initial roll(s), to cutting plies, followed by kitting and lay up of the plies to become the final part.

Traditional methods of tracking composite material have almost always been paper-based. It is typical for a paper form to be manually maintained to track the time in and out of the freezer and this piece of paper travels with the roll and then has to be duplicated for the kitted plies. Logs are maintained to locate complete or partly used rolls, often over multiple locations. Such paper-based methods are error-prone and take up significant staff time.

JETCAM MLM not only resolves all of these problems but also provides real-time information to managers and operators such as time that a particular material has been out of the freezer, material stock levels, material left on each roll, material location and expiry date, etc. The possibility for error is virtually eradicated as once input, the information is carried through the system electronically, and is being constantly updated to reflect the real remaining life of the material. It is also environmentally friendly as it drastically reduces paper usage.

Entering information is much faster than existing manual methods due to minimal human interaction requirement, using simplified input methods such as touch screens or barcode readers. Material is booked in and out of storage within seconds, providing full life traceability from roll to ply to finished part.

MLM utilises JETCAM's Application Server, a relational and highly customisable database structure which has several modules spanning all areas of composite manufacturing. MLM can be used in conjunction with any other Application Server modules to deliver an overall manufacturing management solution.

Martin Bailey, Marketing Manager for JETCAM International s.a.r.l. commented; "MLM creates an extremely fast return on investment not only by minimising time spent logging the required information but also in drastically reducing the scrapping of material that is expired or where the true expiry date is unknown."