Calculate your material savings from sheet yield
75% today → 79.0% with nesting. This is your assumption; the trial measures it on your own files.
Engine time: how the plan is chosen
A day's order of sheets nests well in a job of 1 to 5 minutes; longer jobs can save a further sheet. Your monthly volume divided by this gives the jobs a month, and the calculator picks the cheapest plan whose engine minutes and job length cover them.
Cutting fabric as well? Try the fabric savings calculator.
How the calculation works
Same parts, fewer sheets
An order needs the same area of material however its parts are laid out. A higher yield means fewer sheets for the same parts, so the saving is your monthly sheet spend times (1 − yield today ÷ yield after).
An example
A CNC shop cuts 200 sheets a month at €60 each, with 75% of the sheet area in parts. At 79%, the same parts need 190 sheets: €608 of material a month that it no longer buys, against €29 for Sheet Starter.
Savings come in whole sheets
You buy whole sheets, so a small gain on a small order may free no sheet at all, and the space it opens stays as an offcut. The monthly figure is an average that holds over many orders.
The break-even point
The yield gain at which the material saved equals the plan price: +0.18 points in the example. Above it, every point of yield is worth €158 a month.
How to calculate sheet yield
Add up the area of the parts in an order and divide it by the area of the sheets it used. Most CAD and CAM software reports the area of a drawing or a nest.
For the calculator, take the average over a month of orders, not your best nest. Count a sheet as used if you cut from it.
If you reuse offcuts, count only the part of each sheet you do not reuse. That is the material the order really cost you.
Questions about the sheet savings calculator
How do I calculate sheet yield?
Divide the area of the parts cut by the area of the sheets used. Most CAD and CAM software reports both. For the calculator, use the average over a month of orders.
What gain should I expect from better nesting?
It depends on where you start. Layouts made by hand, or parts packed as rectangles, leave more to gain than moving from one true shape nester to another. We do not quote a figure we have not measured on your parts: nest an order you have already cut during the free trial and count the sheets.
Does it work with several sheet sizes?
The calculator takes one average price per sheet. If you stock several sizes, enter your total sheets cut and your average price. It works from yield alone, so it does not count what the lowest cost goal can add by choosing cheaper sheets.
Which costs does the calculator leave out?
It counts material only. Less time laying out nests, and less machine time when there are fewer sheets to load, come on top, as do your own setup and training time. It also assumes you buy fewer sheets when yield improves, and it gives no value to offcuts.
How is the plan chosen?
From the engine time your sheets need: the sheets you cut a month divided by the sheets per nesting job gives the jobs a month, times the minutes per job. The calculator picks the cheapest sheet plan whose monthly engine minutes and longest job cover it. Extra engine minutes are €0.50 each, with up to 30% off; for more than the largest plan includes, contact us.
Is the calculator free?
Yes. It runs in your browser, needs no account and sends nothing anywhere. To measure your own yield gain, the nesting itself needs a plan, which starts with a free trial.