Our customers cut all kinds of materials with their Autometrix cutting tables, from stretchy polyester fabric to uniquely shaped cow hides to prepreg (pre-impregnated with resin) carbon fiber. Composites can pose a challenge when cutting, because of their toughness – and any wasted material adds up quickly!
Hand Cutting Didn’t Cut it
Emotis, Inc. (now Fillauer Llc.) is no stranger to the challenges of cutting composites. They manufacture high-performance prosthetic feet, primarily using prepreg carbon fiber. When the company started, they were hand cutting pattern pieces, but once they went into production mode, they couldn’t keep up. They watched an Autometrix industrial fabric cutting table in action at a company that they worked with, and they were sold.
More Efficient Use of Expensive Materials
For Eric Rubie, President of Fillauer, Llc., investing in a pattern cutting machine was a no-brainer. “The composite materials are very expensive, especially in the pre-preg form, so any loss can be very costly,” he said. “With Autometrix we can program and really optimize each table so we get full utilization. The amount of scrap we have is very little. It’s actually one of the biggest benefits, is that we do save a tremendous amount versus the hand lay up.”
Saving Money and Time
Fillauer isn’t just saving money with their pattern making table, they are saving a tremendous amount of time (which translates to cost savings). “The Autometrix machine actually allows us to cut approximately ten times faster than we did before,” said Rubie. “If we were to hand cut a ply kit, it might take us two hours, whereas in that same amount of time, we can actually cut ten or more ply kits for each of the products that we make The savings is substantial.” Watch this short video to learn more about how Fillauer (Emotis Inc. at the time of filming) is saving money with their Autometrix fabric cutting table.
Their Autometrix cutter enables accurate cutting at incredible speeds.
Or watch how PatternSmith pattern drafting software works in this video demonstration of nesting and cutting composites. Get your personalized solution today!!