December 2008 Edition

CAD/CAM

You Better Shop Around

When manufacturer-supplied software proved troublesome for a shop, it searched around and found a program that worked

Because software comes with a machine does not mean that program will be best for every application. ADAM Integrated Industries Inc, British Columbia, Canada, discovered that after setting up shop.

The company provides contract manufacturing services using a laser and plasma cutter. The plasma cutter was supplied with a CAM system that could generate NC code for both machines. But, it was slow and had problems, so shop management decided to research the market.

"We had a number of difficulties with the old software. We had to individually nest parts and then point and click as to where each stop and start would be," Colin McMaster, president of ADAM, said. "Also, the automation did not work: the head jumped all over the table. On large nests it was easy to double-cut holes or miss them altogether. In the end we had to double-check each nest by comparing it to the original CAD file. There were too many places where errors could occur."

The company decided to evaluate the market and looked at three systems, including JETCAM from NestONE Solutions, Duluth, GA. Each company provided comparison nests.

"Just looking at the nests I could see that JETCAM would meet our needs," McMaster said. "As many of our parts are custom orders, it was important that the process from CAD to NC code was fast. It was the easiest I’d seen, having used several CAM systems previously."

Singled-out

When comparing JETCAM with a system he had used before, JETCAM was around 30 percent faster due to Single Component Automatic Processing – SCAP – he said.

SCAP lets users import an entire directory of CAD files and apply profiling information, ready for nesting. It is a quick way to create a nest of single components.

"I also felt that the dealer had confidence in the product and that goes a long way in selling it," McMaster said. "They had a willingness to work with us to put together a package that met our needs rather than just selling us what they could."

A license of JETCAM Expert, along with Free Form High Performance Nesting – FFHPN – was installed, plus postprocessors for the two machines. Two days of training were booked, but the operator was trained and generating 100-percent accurate NC code for both machines by the end of the first day. The second day covered "What if?" scenarios. Further downstream training was provided with an ADAM staff member proficient in the software within two hours.

Reducing Labor Costs and Material Waste

Just after the software was installed, one of the programmers left the company. The previous CAM system required a full-time programmer just for nesting, with the whole CAM process taking two staff. Since JETCAM automated the CAD file import, application of cutting technologies on the part, and nesting, McMaster said he decided not to replace the dedicated programmer; instead he let two design staff take ownership of all the CAM-related tasks without a negative impact on their existing workload. The system’s geometry files store cutting information for both machines, so jobs could be moved between machines as required.

“We expect to see a return on investment within 10 to 12 months.”

ADAM reduced labor costs as well as improved material use, often by as much as 20 percent. The shop could configure FFHPN to run during a preset time so the software could produce the best efficiency.

"The ability to specify a part as a ‘filler’ part within the program relieves us from having to think, ‘What can I fill that space with?’ which reduced material waste," McMaster said.

ADAM reduced labor costs as well as improved material use, often by as much as 20 percent

"The speed of job quoting increased and became more accurate," he said. "CAD files can be imported and nested in seconds, with runtime estimation and material use information available to calculate cost per part information. We’re also using the component-order list, which makes it easy to monitor existing orders and set priorities for nesting. In terms of support, the system is easy with quick questions resolution."

Moving into New Markets

Much of the company’s work had been end-to-end manufacturing, covering welding, fabrication, and coating, but now the business is more competitive on laser-only contracts.

"We use JETCAM to give us an advantage on both material use and realistic cycle times for cutting, which in turn, can be used for quick quote building," McMaster said. "We expect to see a return on investment within 10 to 12 months. The efficiencies it provides let us compete in markets where we wouldn’t have been successful." JETCAM

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