In today’s fabrication industry, material is one of the biggest cost drivers. Yet many shops still rely on outdated or disconnected systems for tracking inventory, remnants, and drops.
The result? Overstocking, lost remnants, production delays, and wasted resources.
SigmaNEST solves this problem by integrating material management directly into the cutting and nesting workflow.
The platform provides complete visibility of your available stock—sheets, remnants, and plates—helping you use what you have before ordering more.
In this blog, we explore how SigmaNEST optimises material usage, automates inventory tracking, and empowers better purchasing decisions.
1. What Is Material Management in SigmaNEST?
Material management in SigmaNEST refers to the system’s ability to track, assign, consume, and reorder raw material sheets and remnants.
SigmaNEST does this by integrating with your nesting engine, shop floor machines, and business systems, giving you real-time insight into available inventory and cutting operations.
1.1. Key Components
- Material Inventory Database: Stores all active sheet types, sizes, and grades.
- Remnant Tracking: Automatically logs reusable drops left after cutting.
- Sheet Assignment: Nesting engine chooses the best sheet or remnant based on job parameters.
- Traceability: Monitor where a sheet was used, who cut it, and what parts were made.
2. Why Traditional Material Tracking Falls Short
Most manual or disconnected systems (e.g., spreadsheets, standalone databases, ERP systems with no nesting integration) lead to:
- Remnants going unused or lost in racks
- Double ordering of stock already available
- No real-time insight into remaining sheets or drop sizes
- Inaccurate material usage reports
SigmaNEST closes the loop by automating this process—from nesting through to cutting and inventory updating.
3. Real-Time Remnant Tracking
Every time you complete a cutting job in SigmaNEST, the system can automatically save the remaining piece of material as a remnant.
3.1. Remnant Management Features
- Auto-save Offcuts: As soon as the cutting is complete, leftover sheets above a certain size are logged.
- Visual Remnant Preview: You can view remnants with shape, dimensions, and cutout positions.
- Prioritised Nesting: SigmaNEST will use remnants first if they meet job requirements, before allocating full sheets.
- Machine Association: Track which machine created the remnant, ensuring accuracy and accountability.
This significantly reduces waste and increases sheet utilisation over time.
4. Smarter Material Assignment and Nesting
SigmaNEST doesn’t just list what materials are available—it actively selects the best sheet or remnant for a given job.
4.1. Nesting Preferences and Priority Rules
- Sheet Prioritisation: Based on age, size, material grade, or customer project.
- Remnant Fit Checking: Automatically analyses whether a remnant fits the parts before pulling a new sheet.
- Stock Grouping: Groups materials by type, thickness, and treatment to ensure correct nesting combinations.
This ensures that every job is optimised for both efficiency and cost—minimising scrap and unused sheets.
5. Integration with Job Tracking and ERP Systems
SigmaNEST integrates with ERP and MRP platforms via SigmaMRP or third-party connections, allowing automatic:
- Stock deductions after each job
- Purchase requisitions for depleted materials
- Linking material usage to job costing and traceability
- Real-time feedback from machines on material consumption
This seamless link between planning and production removes duplication, speeds up purchasing, and improves inventory accuracy.
6. Simplified Stock Management for Operators
Material tracking isn’t just for the office—SigmaNEST Shop Floor tools such as Colour Offload and Shop Manager allow machine operators to interact with material inventory from tablets or workstations.
6.1. Features for Shop Floor Staff
- Check which sheet or remnant to use next.
- Mark dropouts as reusable or scrap after cutting.
- Update job completion and part quantities.
- Colour-coded visuals to differentiate sheets.
This encourages accountability and ensures the system reflects real-time production status.
7. Benefits of SigmaNEST’s Material Management Features
7.1. Key Outcomes
- Reduce Material Waste: Track and re-use remnants automatically.
- Minimise Overstock: Avoid unnecessary sheet orders.
- Improve Traceability: Know which sheets were used for which jobs.
- Save Time: No more manual tracking or searching through racks.
- Boost Efficiency: Let the system automatically assign materials for better nesting results.
8. The Bottom Line
SigmaNEST’s material management and inventory tools are designed to help manufacturers reduce waste, save time, and improve efficiency.
By linking inventory directly to nesting and cutting, it ensures that every sheet and remnant is fully utilised.
Whether you’re managing hundreds of sheet types or just a few, SigmaNEST gives you the control and visibility you need to make smarter decisions—from purchasing to production.
