HEXIS Pre-Cut Lab helps PPF installers cut out the guesswork

HEXIS, one of the world’s leading suppliers of Paint Protection Films (PPF) and vinyl wrap products, has released a new software platform – HEXIS Pre-Cut Lab – designed to remove the guesswork that is currently atypical in the vehicle wrap industry.

Ian Parsonson, Managing Director of HEXIS Australia, explains: “PPF and vehicle wrap installers traditionally work to a familiar rhythm: measure the panel, cut the sheet, apply it, trim the excess. It’s a process that works, but it also chews through material and time, particularly on larger jobs where getting the cut wrong means starting again. HEXIS has essentially built a library of pre-cut templates, suitable for a range of vehicle makes and models, which covers everything from single panels through to full-vehicle wrap plans. Rather than cutting film to rough shape and trimming it on the car, installers can use this software to now send a pre-cut pattern straight to their plotter.”

Each template in the HEXIS Pre-Cut Lab comes in two versions: an unwrapped pattern that runs to the panel edge, and a wrapped version that extends around it. This gives installers a finish without the shortfalls of a few millimetres that can occur with manual cutting.

Parsonson adds: “Users jump onto our platform, grab their car make and model details, and then select panels or the whole car from the complete vehicle wrap plan, which essentially enables them to wrap the entire vehicle from pre-cut material, rather than cutting it in bulk on the car.”

Beyond precision, Parsonson says the software’s real value is in yield. By nesting patterns efficiently across a roll, installers can use considerably less film per job. “Instead of using four or five metres to wrap that front end of the car, you should be able to get it in less than three.”

“This might sound counter-intuitive for a product and roll seller to be pushing a product like this, as it essentially means our customers will be using less film, this allows them to use less film, but if we can provide customers with that sort of solution, we believe their productivity will be significantly enhanced and so they will be more likely to e doing more jobs: a win-win.”

Pre-Cut Lab is web-based, so installers can search the pattern library for a vehicle before committing to a job, and the editing tools are built to feel familiar to anyone who has used design software such as Illustrator. Parsonson says the system is compatible with around 130 plotter brands, with new models added to the driver library as required.

Turnaround on missing templates offers another point of difference, with Parsonson citing a recent case where a client requested a full set of Ford Ranger variants. “Within three days, they had all five variants of the Ford Ranger. And another vehicle was supplied to HEXIS mid-afternoon and returned as a completed cut pattern by early evening, ready for a Melbourne installer to begin cutting that same night.”

For customers already buying HEXIS PPF or its CandyFence colour range, the HEXIS Pre-Cut Lab is provided at no additional cost, positioning it less as a standalone product and more as an added service tied to material sales. For an industry where margins are tight and jobs are increasingly judged on finish quality, tools that reduce material waste while tightening tolerances are likely to find an audience, particularly among installers taking on higher volumes of full-vehicle wrap work.

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