Lantek delivers multiple updates to Lantek Expert, Flex3D, MES and Integra, Analytics, iQuoting and Metal Shop in its 2021 Global Release at Fabtech Booth A3203

          Automation, material savings, KPI reporting, integration and online quoting in Lantek Global Release 2021

Like every year, Lantek continues with its commitment to offer its clients and distributors the best solutions for the sheet metal market, with the announcement many improvements and new features in the new 2021 version.

Lantek Expert sheet metal CAM software brings important enhancements for easier and more automated cutting, punching and shearing operations while Flex3D tube cutting software gives speed and material savings. Lantek MES and Lantek Integra offer closer integration with CAD models and machine tool controllers and Lantek Analytics delivers further advances in cloud technology and configurable KPI reports. Lantek iQuoting & Lantek Metal Shop gives manufacturers the capability to implement online quoting and ordering.

Lantek Expert

New features in the import of CAD models into Lantek Expert allow Drag and Drop and the Detection of Duplicate Parts, making the import of part data much simpler and quicker. The software is capable of Importing 3D models as assemblies and sets of parts from virtually every CAD system in the market. Now, with the Assembly to Nesting importer, it can unfold all the sheet metal parts in the model, taking account of the bending tool to be used, to arrive at an accurate 2D shape ready for nesting and cutting. Furthermore, new capabilities for managing Draft Parts make it possible to flag up parts which need further design approval before manufacture. Besides, the new Clean Cut technology can be applied to those contours where no lead-ins or micro-joints should be placed, avoiding potential imperfections in the final cut.

A new Expand Nest option makes it easy for the programmer to make use of unused space on the sheet by increasing the uniform spacing between components. The advantage is increased rigidity of the remaining skeleton after cutting, improved evacuation of parts during cutting and reduced chance of collisions, a reduction in heat affected zones and a balanced weight for the skeleton when crane removal is necessary.

The new Spiral Cutting function for hole cutting destroys the material within the hole so that falls into the machine bed. This prevents potential collisions and avoids the need for manual removal of the scrap material. Additionally, it gives a smoother and faster cut with no sharp corners and involves fewer cut start cycles.

Other improvements aimed at manufacturability include - better lead in/out positions, automatic remanent dimensioning, nesting by zone, new micro-joint treatments, skeleton destruction options, import window customisation and improvements in cost calculations – 25 in all.

Lantek Flex3D

The tube machining market is growing strongly as is the number of new machines, devices and technologies designed to cut tubular parts. Lantek’s Global Release 2021 reflects these demands from the industry.

New in Flex3D is its ability to handle any tube profile, even irregular ones, making it ready for cutting any complex tube format. A major change is Flex3D’s 64-bit architecture, this has resulted in a reduction in programming time of around 15%. Additionally, it has improved the tube nesting capabilities delivering material savings of up to 5% and time savings of 28% together with extra zone nesting tools and postprocessor capabilities for the most complex machine configurations.

Optimization of hole cutting paths according to zones and zig-zag movements reduces non-cutting movements and automatically places the entry point for each hole in the direction in which the machine is traveling. This makes use of the machine’s inertia reducing acceleration and deceleration movements, resulting in faster cutting times.

For irregularly shaped tubes, Lantek has created Toolpath Smart Designer. This allows the programmer to build up a library of new cutting paths to suit new tube profiles. The capability can also be used for existing profiles giving more options for efficient part cutting.

The change to 64-bit has brought other improvements, with Lantek’s Steelwork module now redesigned to make a seamless common interface, performance improvements for many programming tasks and enhanced security and malicious code protection.

Lantek MES and Lantek Integra

Managing the workshop and accurately keeping track of resource loading, orders, delivery dates, quality and stock levels while maintaining traceability and the flexibility to react to changing circumstances are just some of the capabilities of Lantek MES and Lantek Integra. These are complex and interrelated processes and the successful implementation of Lantek MES, and Lantek Integra depends on their flexibility. In Lantek’s Global Release 2021, this is an important area which has seen a considerable amount of attention.

Supporting this improved stability is better real-time integration with the machine control with Lantek WOS Opentalk. This gives the machine operator more power and flexibility, automatically reporting the job actually running on the machine. These improvements help in scheduling and workload monitoring, enabling accurate delivery times to be predicted for sales orders and quotations while considering running times, pre-defined buffer times and lag times for each operation.

Better integration of Lantek MES and Lantek Integra with Lantek Flex3D allows more options for the import of 3D CAD data (STEP, IGES, SAT). These changes further improve the ability of the system to create quotations.

To meet current design standards, Lantek has made significant improvements to the interface. The now option of dark mode enhances the visual ergonomics, reducing eye strain and making it possible to adjust the screen to suit the current light conditions providing comfort for the user at night or in dark environments.

Lantek Analytics

Lantek has been working on cloud-based applications for several years and sees this as the future for software. Not only does it make the software accessible from any location 24/7, but it eliminates the cost of expensive hardware, is elastic in its capacity and makes updates and new software applications easy to implement, dramatically reducing the cost of ownership.

The Global Release 2021 sees the launch of the first SaaS (Software as a Service) application in Lantek Analytics. This application can be accessed on any device from any location at any time and makes it possible to see what is happening in the factory with more than 70 KPIs and 10 filters. It has never been so easy to transparently see your business data, all packed in meaningful KPIs.

As part of the development Lantek Analytics includes 8 additional KPIs and KPI Self-Service which allows the user to define their own KPIs from the hundreds of metrics available in the system using a simple wizard interface.

Lantek iQuoting and Metal Shop

iQuoting and Metal Shop are also cloud based applications and are designed to create quotations for the customer in a simple, fast and automatic way and, because they operate in the cloud, can be accessed from any location and on any device.

Lantek Metal Shop is for customers with iQuoting who also want to have a web page for creating quotes and sell online using the 24/7 availability of e-commerce. The online store in Metal Shop is a real opportunity for sheet metal subcontracting companies to free up time in their sales department for standard products and at the same time target new customers and markets that prefer to use an online platform.

With its Global Release 2021, Lantek continues to bring you the best possible sheet metal technology, increasing your efficiency and profitability and helping you on the path to digital transformation. Lantek’s team looks forward to welcoming you to Booth A3203 at Fabtech in Chicago.

About Lantek

Lantek is a multinational that is leading the digital transformation of companies in the sheet metal and metal industry. With its smart manufacturing software, it enables factories to be connected, turning them into Smart Factories. It rounds off its range of services with CAD, CAM, MES, and ERP solutions for companies that manufacture metal parts from sheet metal, tubes, and profiles using any cutting technology (laser, plasma, oxycut, waterjet, shearing, and punching).

Founded in 1986 in the Basque Country (Spain), one of the main European centers of machine tool development, it enables the integration of sheet metal and metal processing technologies with the most advanced manufacturing control software. The company is currently the outstanding leader in its sector thanks to its capacity for innovation and commitment to internationalization. With more than 25,700 customers in over 100 countries and 20 offices in 14 countries, it has an extensive network of distributors with an international presence. In 2020, its international business contributed to 88% of its revenue.

For more information, visit: www.lantek.com