The Challenge
A national retail customer approached us with a massive order: 9,600 foam display parts — primarily 2D tree shapes — to be installed in hundreds of stores across the country.
Initially, we tried to meet the demand using our CNC routers, but two major issues surfaced:
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Speed bottlenecks – routers could only process one sheet at a time, each taking 12 minutes to cut.
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Poor paintability – the routered foam surfaces absorbed too much finishing paint, resulting in inconsistent aesthetics and added labor.
It became clear that our current setup wouldn’t keep up — either in time or quality.
The Pivot: Switching to CNC Foam Cutting
To solve the problem, we moved to a dedicated hotwire CNC foam cutter. This machine allowed us to cut 64 sheets in a single run, drastically improving throughput. Our customer
However, this switch wasn’t plug-and-play. The nature of hotwire cutting meant we had to redesign any part that had internal cutouts ("isles") to allow for wire entry and exit. This redesign effort was significant — but essential.
"When the team at Wired4Signs USA proposed switching to CNC foam cutting, we trusted their expertise — and we're glad we did. The quality was excellent, the turnaround was fast, and they delivered 9,600 parts exactly when we needed them."
The Results
I✅ 9600 Parts Completed On Time
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Using 1.5" foam sheets, each 4'x8' sheet yielded 8 parts
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Total of 1,200 sheets processed
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Hotwire foamcutter handled 64 sheets per batch, completing the full job in under 24 hours of machine runtime
✅ Production Efficiency Jumped >5×
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Router: 12 minutes per sheet
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Foamcutter: 76 minutes per 64-sheet batch
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Throughput increased exponentially, with fewer operator interventions
✅ Superior Paint Finish
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Hotwire-cut surfaces were clean and sealed, eliminating the router’s issue of excessive paint absorption
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No primer required, resulting in reduced material and labor costs
✅ Scalable and Repeatable
