Product category:
CAM and software for sheetmetal, punching, profiling, EDM, etc
News Release from: Jetcam International | Subject: Automated CAM and nesting software
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 30 August 2007
Sheet metal work nesting and CAM
amortised fast
Fabricator of stainless steel catering and food service industries reported that the company's latest investment in nesting and CAM software has amortised inside three months.
Franke Foodservice Systems in the USA reported a return on investment in three months with its automated CAM and nesting software acquired from Jetcam The company was already using a Jetcam system originally supplied with a Finn-Power CNC punch press
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 26 Dec 2003 at 8.00am (UK)
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Said Todd Branch, CNC programmer: "We were already having problems with the other CAM system, which they had to customise heavily to meet their needs.
Even the CAM vendor's technical support were lost.
The system was also complex to use, with parts taking about 20 minutes each to tool.
Nesting efficiency was also quite poor".
Franke decided to standardise on JETCAM Expert and purchase the Free Form High Performance nesting module across four licenses.
Postprocessors for the Trumpf lasers were also purchased, along with.
Jetcam's Remote Control Processor (RCP) module so that Jetcam's materials and orders lists could be integrated with Franke's in-house MRP system.
No additional on-site training was needed.
Branch explained: "I'd been trained on JETCAM Expert back in 1995 and provided all training for staff, however the few times that we have needed advice or assistance the local distributor, NestONE has been excellent, even emailing tutorial videos on how to perform advanced functions specific to our needs.
The system is very easy to learn, and in fact our overall support requirement has decreased by around two-thirds".
Franke wrote an interface between their MRP and JETCAM whereby orders and material information were transferred over and then automatically processed using RCP.
Branch said: "The interface only took our technical staff less than a week to write.
Now, once an order is loaded onto MRP parts are automatically nested and NC code is then almost immediately available for the operator".
When Franke had switched off the other CAM system a number of Jetcam benefits were immediately noticeable.
Programming time was virtually eradicated for the lasers and massively reduced for the punches.
Commented Branch: "For lasered parts we simply import the CAD file and hit the auto-profiling button.
Cutting technologies such as lead-ins/outs, common line cutting settings, hole destruction and microjoints, etc, were applied for each component.
The part was then immediately available for nesting.
Before, each part would take 5 min to manually apply a profiling path.
I choose to apply tooling manually for the punch presses, but this only takes 5 min compared with 20 in the old system.
With between 20 to 50 new parts being programmed per week this quickly adds up to several hours savings per week".
** Nesting efficiency - nesting efficiency also improved dramatically.
Franke uses standard 4ft x 10ft (3048 x 1219mm) sheets of stainless steel.
Branch added: "With JETCAM's high performance nesting module the efficiency percentage is always in the 90s.
A conservative estimate would equate to around 5% and an annual material saving of around US$175,000".
Machine cycle time also dramatically improved by as much as 15% - almost a day per week.
Branch attributed this to several reasons: "The nester allows you to set a time period for it to run - the longer the better.
We've found that we only need to let it run for about 20s to provide highly optimized nests, but if we want to allow more time for the nester to run to try out alternatives, we can.
Also, the common-line cutting within JETCAM is extremely efficient.
This in turn provides a much quicker cutting path for the machine.
The automatic part placement is also much better than the other system".
Franke is also taking advantage of Jetcam's SCAP (Single Component Automatic Processing) facility, available on all versions of Expert.
This provides a fast method of batch importing many components and automatically applying tooling or profiling information.
JETCAM simply processes any CAD files placed in a given location on the network, with nestable geometry files available within seconds.
Franke took out a maintenance contract on all of their JETCAM licenses and have already benefited from updates to the software received under maintenance.
Branch said: "We download the latest version from the JETCAM website.
One recent update had some additional features added to common line cutting which allowed even more parts to be cut this way, which shaved a further 2% off of material waste and machining time.
This was made even better by the fact that our maintenance was over 10% cheaper than the previous system".
Branch concluded: "We recently added in a new Trumpf laser machine in Poland and China, and Jetcam was able to immediately program parts for them just by adding a postprocessor - all parts could then be tooled and were immediately available for nesting.
When you add up the programming time, machining time and material savings we recouped our initial outlay on JETCAM in around three months".
** Benefits achieved are summarised as follows.
* One CAM system driving three different brands of machines in four countries.
* Saving several hours per week on tooling components for punch press.
* Profiling information now applied automatically to all profiled parts.
* Saving at least 5% on material.
* SCAP provides quick way to automatically batch process parts.
* Machine cycle time improved by 15%.
* Were able to write interface from in-house MRP to Jetcam's RCP in a few days.
* Made further savings through maintenance updates.
* Maintenance cost reduced by over 10%.
* Support requirement decreased by two-thirds.
* Excellent tech support, with custom video training.
* System paid for itself in appoximately three months.
** Machines Driven by JETCAM CAM are as follows.
* Trump 3030 laser cutting machines.
* Trumpf 3050 laser cutting machines.
* Amada Coma CNC punch Press.
* Finn-Power TP25 CNC punch press.
** Software systems installed are as follows.
* JETCAM Expert Premium.
* Auto nesting module with free-form high performance nesting.
* Remote control processing.
** About Franke - Franke Foodservice Systems is based in Lavergne, Tennessee, USA and designs and manufactures stainless steel equipment for restaurants and for customers such as McDonalds in the food service industry.
The company has a staff of over 1000 across facilities in the USA, Switzerland, China, Philippines and Poland.
** About Jetcam International - Jetcam International has been developing and distributing its JETCAM Expert range of CAD/CAM software since 1986.
In use in over 70 countries worldwide, JETCAM Expert software supports virtually every CNC punching, laser, plasma-arc, routing, waterjet and flatbed cutting machine available today, allowing users to program any combination of CNC sheet metal working machines with a single CAM system.
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