A contour edge-banding machine is industrial equipment able to apply tape to a part's curved contour. Unlike a regular "straight" machine, where the part is fed along a straight line, a contour machine leads the part along its contour through stationary units (or, conversely, moves the units around the part). These are different machines, different technologies, different throughputs.
How the firm decides which machine to use
Allocating parts to machines is the firm's production department's job. Parts with straight sides go to the straight machine, curved ones — to the contour machine. If the firm only has a straight machine, curved parts may be sub-contracted, done by hand, or simply not offered to the customer.
iFurn.pro does not take part in that allocation. The system passes the firm manager the part data: sizes, material, chosen tape, edge processing type. Which machine takes the part is decided on the firm's side.
What iFurn.pro doesn't do
- Doesn't tag a part as "for the contour machine".
- Doesn't filter tapes by compatibility with straight vs contour equipment.
- Doesn't auto-add a separate "contour banding" rate — rates are set by the firm manager.
- Doesn't generate a control program for the robotic feed — that's the machine's level, not the project UI's.
Where you can influence which machine handles the part
If the firm works with curved parts, its manager sets up the catalog to support that:
- Tapes suitable for curves are added to the catalog (thin, flexible, laser — see the dedicated article).
- A separate service "curved banding" is added to the services catalog, with its own per-metre rate.
- In the firm settings the manager specifies which machines are available and how they process different part types.
The technologist in the part card doesn't pick a machine — they pick a tape and processing type. That this ends up on the contour machine in production (if there is one) is a consequence, not a choice in the UI.
What the technologist sees in the quote
If the firm has set up the service catalog with separate "straight banding" and "curved banding" items, the order calculation will show them separately. iFurn.pro allocates metres to service types based on the firm's settings — but doesn't by itself decide "send this part to that machine".
Bottom line
"Contour machine" is a term from the world of furniture equipment, not a concept inside iFurn.pro. The system records part curvature as a data attribute (coming from the template) and leaves it to the firm manager to decide which machine handles the work. It's a division of responsibility: iFurn.pro owns the project and the quote, the firm owns the choice of equipment.