Basically, this is a wizard-based technology - patented, BTW - that makes defining cutting conditions easy by automatically calculating the cutting conditions for your toolpath. The key for you CAD guys tasked with machining and people weary of CNC programming is something called iMachining. There are no import/export hassles, and you don’t have to learn some CAM system’s idea of a CAD application to make them work. Their models are fully associative, so your toolpaths update when you make a part change. They can handle programming 2.5- to 5-axis machining, high-speed surface milling, wire EDM, etc.
You define, calculate and verify all your machining operations without leaving the CAD environment. Their CNC programming toolsets look and feel like the CAD systems as much as possible, making the learning curve shorter. Officially approved partners and all that. SolidCAM and InventorCAM integrate with SolidWorks and Inventor, respectively. SolidCAM move plenty of software, but now what they’re really starting to get into is training a new generation of CAM-capable design engineers who can run the machines. SolidCAM, InventorCAM and the standalone SolidCAM CAD/CAM suite are the flagship products. These guys have been developing CAM software for 30 years.
Today’s Check it Out link takes you to an outfit called SolidCAM. Be that as it may, the second thing to do is recognize that CAD and CAM can work together tool in toolpath, and you can learn to make the hard copy happen without going nuts. Still, CAM is not CAD, and designing a part and making one were traditionally two different careers. The cost of new machining technology has dropped while capabilities have risen, and there’s a large used equipment fire sale from all the shops that went under during the past decade or so.
The business pains of outsourcing are real. So, what do you do now? First, recognize that the boss’s idea isn’t all wet. A simple syllogism has popped up in the heads of a lot of honchos fed up with the hassles of offshoring and outsourcing: You design parts with Inventor or SolidWorks, CNCs make parts, ergo, you can make parts on a CNC. And, for many of you at small- and mid-sized outfits, and even large ones, there’s even more bad news. So there’s a shortage of trained machinists. Voc Eds teach people how to run CAD or Excel, but not necessarily CAM and mills. A lot of the people with the skills have moved on. The bad news is that the decline in manufacturing trudged on for a generation. In short, the total cost of goods sold did not offset the savings. Blame the headaches of offshoring: Supply chain nightmares, more rejected products, big transportation costs, rising wages overseas, ripped off IP, language snafus, usurious local tariffs, sluggish ECO response times, collaborators becoming competitors and so on. Manufacturing seems to be making a comeback in the U.S.
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