Stamping Blank Optimal Layout and Coil Slitting Widths for Single and Multiple Blanks

In stamping, operating costs are dominated by raw material costs, which can typically reach 75 percent of total costs in a stamping facility. In this paper, material utilization efficiency is modeled by considering two primary sources of scrap: material cut away from the exterior of each blank on the strip and off-cuts of unusable narrow strips generated when wide master coils are slit into strips for subsequent stamping. Based on these, layout optimization techniques for minimizing raw material usage are described that predict the optimal blank orientation on the strip and the optimum slitting width for the strip. In addition, methods are given for determining optimal common strip widths for multiple parts, both for dependent and independent demand. These algorithms are ideally suited for incorporation into die design CAE systems.