CAD/CAM, controls and factory automation

Manufacturing Engineering, Aug 2002

CAD/CAM Controls & Factory Automation

IMTS 2002

SPECIAL SHOW ISSUE

In a tight economy, manufacturers put increased emphasis on improving productivity. Nowhere is this more evident than in CAD/CAM, controls and factory automation, where the latest software, connectivity, and automation solutions help drive technical innovation in the industry.

With state-of-the-art software, newer controls, and advanced automation tools, manufacturers are making machine tools more productive. More refined CAD/CAM packages, open controls, and greater networking options including real-time supply chain systems over the Internet optimize manufacturers' productivity. After enduring tough business conditions, manufacturers are finally seeing some positive signs on the horizon as IMTS 2002 approaches.

In recent months, factory capacity utilization has been inching upwards, which bodes well for machine tool industry vendors' after-market parts and service, notes Douglas Peterson, vice president, CNC and Laser Business, GE Fanuc Automation North America Inc. (Charlottesville, VA). "We are expecting a couple of quarters before we start seeing end-user customers investing in new capacity. Another encouraging sign is that customer inventory levels appear to be down, so when customers get new machine orders, they're going to need controls."

"Controls already have come a long way, in terms of block processing speeds and servo technology and so forth, and we're always going to see incremental improvements in those areas," says Peterson. "But the areas we're focusing on are those that make the machine tool more productive. Lean manufacturing and productivity improvements are trends in the market, so we're developing features and functions around the control that achieve reduction in waste and help achieve the concepts of lean manufacturing."

The lean theme will be prominently displayed at GE Fanuc's IMTS booth, where a virtual manufacturing tour will demonstrate productivity improvements through programming and setups, production machining, five-axis features, maintenance and service, and connectivity/communications technologies. "When you reduce scrap, you improve yield," Peterson notes. "Some of the features in the control software improve speed-we're calling it high-productivity machining, rather than high-speed machining-- where you get the speed and performance but also improve yield and eliminate waste. We have new software in that area which allows customers to program parts more easily on the machine."

Solid models and the latest knowledge-based machining techniques for optimizing productivity will be highlighted at IMTS by many manufacturing software suppliers. The newest CAM packages offer automatic feature recognition (AFR), machining directly from solids, and the latest in high-speed machining techniques.

"We are always working on improving high-- speed machining, which is a growth area," says Mark Summers, president, CNC Software Inc. (Tolland, CT), which at IMTS will show its latest Mastercam Version 9. "People are starting to buy more of those machines and they want those machines to run as efficiently as possible to get a return on their investment, so they're expecting us to put out the kind of toolpath they need to make that happen."

Knowledge-based machining developments also are key. "We're putting a fair amount of effort into that," Summers adds. "Years ago, most of our customers would get a hand-drawn blueprint, take the data, and put it into a computer. Then people realized that if this was drawn once in a CAD system, it should never have to be drawn again," he recalls. "Now people are saying, `we have all this knowledge built into the model-you know we have a hole here, a boss here-and we don't even want to tell you that. We want you to figure it out.' That's why we're getting into knowledge-based machining, so we can look at a file, understand there is a boss, or a hole, and figure out what type of tool and toolpath to apply to that feature."

Most of the industry-leading CAM software packages now offer a wide range of features and functions that weren't available to manufacturers a decade or more ago. "About 10-15 years ago, CAD/CAM software was severely limited by its lack of technology," recalls Bill Gibbs, founder and president of Gibbs and Associates (Moorpark, CA). "There just were so many things that most CAD/CAM systems couldn't do for you that the single biggest issue was, when will the technology advance? You can compare it to personal computers-20 years ago, you could say 'look at all the things computers can't do for me because they're too slow, they're too expensive, and they don't have adequate capacities.'

"The parallel with CAM is that 10 or 15 years ago, the questions were: can you cut a pocket; can you generate the toolpath; can you make the lathe part? These were the most important things," Gibbs says. "Today, all the front-running CAM systems can cut everybody's part. And there still is this market inertia asking who has the most features, but it's gotten to be a very close parallel to the PC." Gibbs advocates that more sophisticated customers take a very critical look at their CAM software needs. "Today, the savvy CAM buyer should be looking at price, service, and most importantly, they should be looking at quality-and I think quality issues should become much more significant as we move forward."