Custom Software Development for Manufacturing Applications

If you have a problem. . .

Manufacturing is growing – companies are becoming more profitable through technology. Most companies have access to comparable CAD/CAM programming software, similar CNC machine technology, robots, etc.

So how does a business gain a massive competitive edge?

Have you ever wondered if there was a faster, easier, automated way to do some of the tedious, repetitious, math intensive, record keeping parts of your manufacturing process?

We have a solution.

CAMCAD has worked with clients with unique CAM-related needs, helping them automate difficult or otherwise impractical manufacturing engineering processes.  The ROI on these projects have been so good that many of our clients prefer that we not discuss them.

Here are a few we CAN share:

• Aircraft Skin Panel Production – A manufacturer of programmable fixtures for large aircraft skin panels came to us looking for a “postprocessor”. After we fully understood their requirements, the solution involved SURFCAM as a graphics engine and an XML-based project management system which allows the programmer to import, reorient, and locate multiple parts on their 165′ multi-section fixture table, producing production-ready control data for the fixture and a detailed CAD drawing file for setup.
• Aircraft Final Assembly – An aircraft manufacturer approached us to solve a design and machining problem during final assembly. A production worker was taking precision readings of the deliberately designed-in gap between the wings and fuselage, writing the readings on a “shim request form” sent to design engineering. Due to inter-departmental schedule differences, turn-around sometimes took 12~24 hours while an expensive $30m aircraft sat waiting. Our solution included special-purpose software on a PC driving a small CNC milling machine next to the final assembly area, and our system had to be simple enough to allow a non-programmer to operate it. Today the production worker directly enters the gap amounts, browses for the wing/fuselage profile, and generates CNC machining data in less than 15 minutes.
• Cancer Treatment – Non-Standard Geometry – High Volume production. One of our key accounts produces patient-specific consumables for radiation therapy. Over the past 10 years we’ve helped this company grow from a 5-man, 1-CNC machine shop to a 50-man, 30-CNC world-leading production facility in an emerging marketplace, turning out 250+ unique and complex machined components each day. The software we provided ranges from a unique web-based interface for radiation clinics whereby each clinic has instant access to job status but can only see their own jobs, to a fully FDA-compliant internal process with 100% audit of every step in the process, to lights-out toolpath generation, machine routing, inspection, and shipping. As such we can truly claim that our automation software is the lifeblood of this highly sophisticated operation.
• Database-Driven CAM – A customer approached us that had been out-sourcing production but had decided to purchase a high-performance CNC machine equipped with multiple pallets containing custom fixtures. Each fixture is able to handle any mixture of blank sizes that span their entire parts inventory. They needed a web-enabled database-driven system to automatically compute CNC programs in batches from stored profiles for roughly 1,000 unique part numbers.
• 5ax Laser Drilling – CAD Comparison - A client with a 5-axis CNC laser drilling operation programmed with an existing SURFCAM 5-Axis CAM system needed to import manually-doctored CNC code and compare the “as-is” version from the CNC machine with the original “as-designed” CAD model to determine if a refurbished component was still within acceptable tolerance. Their CNC operators were making slight position adjustments at the machine using a closed-circuit TV with a magnifying lens for opening up tiny cooling holes in airfoil surfaces of jet engine components.

Talk is cheap, and you’ll never know if your unusual application can be streamlined or automated unless you ask. Who knows, you may have a candidate for your own competitive “secret weapon” right under your nose.

Contact Don McKillop @ x116.