Offcut Use

Crocodile use a lot of sheet materials – for example plywood, OSB, chipboard and MDF.

Every sheet we use needs to be cut on our industrial beam saws to precise dimensions in order to provide components for our products.

Minimising the waste from this cutting process is an ongoing, daily focus. Optimising the yield from the saws is a crucial part of our business. 

Not only does this type of efficiency save money on material costs which feeds through to lower pricing for our customers, but it also means that we are looking after the environment by minimising not only the waste but also reducing the impact on the environment of new material delivery lorries, the requirement for waste management and carbon emissions from our factory processes.

MINIMISING MATERIAL WASTE

• Sheet cutting patterns are analysed to ensure that the most efficient nesting pattern is used.
  • Where possible we will cut components for different projects from the same sheet in order to maximise the yield and minimise waste.
• Cutting software compares options to ensure that accuracy and efficiency is optimised.
  • Complex cutting patterns are analysed with modern optimising software to save time on the sawing process.
• Usable offcuts are safely stored, and sizes recorded for future use.
  • Adding offcut sizes to our standard stock sheets means that new projects will use as much offcut material as possible which keeps waste to a minimum with all the associated environmental benefits.
• New products are often developed to use off-cuts rather than requiring new sheets to be cut.
  • Where possible, new crates will be re-sized in order to use a stock of offcuts. This sometimes means developing a packing solution in partnership with our customer which ultimately provides a lower crate cost in addition to enhanced sustainability.