Sheet-metal Fabrication

An industry that cuts parts from steel, aluminium, and other sheet stock with laser, plasma, or punch, then forms them. Its cutting stage — True-shape Nesting — is the industrial case of 2D Irregular Nesting, where material yield is cost. Sheet-metal-specific constraints include kerf (cut width) compensation, common-line cutting that cuts adjacent parts along a shared edge, and optimizing the cutting head's travel path.