CAD/CAM assisted in diesel engine project

Working with latest CAD/CAM package has a subcontractor confidence to guarantee all its customers that it can rapidly turnaround machined parts to exceptionally high standards.

As a business started by two ex-Williams engineers, it is little surprise that Outright Engineering Limited is now setting its stall out in the Motorsport industry by working on prestigious projects like the JCB Dieselmax.

Based in Banbury, UK, the epicentre of the UK Motorsport industry, Outright Engineering conducts 95% of its business within this sector and works with a wide variety of Touring, Rally and Formula 1 customers.

It is this pedigree that led the company to working with Visioneering on the JCB project.

Working on the well publicised project over 2-3 months, Outright manufactured a number of suspension parts and turbo hangers with the help of Open Mind Technologies CAD/CAM software.

As Outright Engineering director Don Ward said: "The parts we manufacture are fast turnaround parts, and this was particularly true of the JCB project.

Working with F1 customers, this is something we are very familiar with.

We produced a wide range of JCB components in a typical automotive sense, manufacturing front, back, left and right hand sets of parts from aluminium, titanium and steel".

He added: "The difference was obviously that the parts were of critical importance, tolerance and specification with no two parts being identical.

Working with our hyperMILL CAD/CAM package from Open Mind has given us the confidence to guarantee not only Visioneering and JCB, but all customers that we can rapidly turnaround parts to exceptionally high standards." Outright originally planned the purchase of hyperMILL to co-ordinate with the acquisition of a 5-axis Bridgeport machining centre.

However, the machine acquisition was put on hold for 18 months - but Outright still employed hyperMILL for its 3- and 4-axis applications.

As Ward continued: "We did our research not only based on various vendors' proposals but also with feedback from colleagues in the industry.

Colleagues at other subcontract businesses told us that regardless of collision avoidance 'reassurance', packages were never 100% guaranteed and collisions between tool and part did still happen, especially in 5-axis." Working on recommendation and personal review, Ward believed hyperMILL from Open Mind looked 'bullet-proof'.

"To this day it has been bullet-proof - we've had exceptional performance from hyperMILL with no collisions in the three years since using the package.

hyperMILL is easy to use and this enables us to fine tune to an extent that truly makes it outstanding," stated Ward.

In the last three years, hyperMILL has been employed on 3, 4 and now 5-axis applications to great success.

As Ward stated: "Like any other business that invests considerable amounts in new technology and machine tools, we don't want anything getting damaged via poor programming and potential collisions.

Collisions and gouges out of workpieces are more commonplace when producing complex 5-axis components - the collision avoidance of hyperMILL, particularly in 5-axis mode is remarkable and has put an end to any potential fears of collision." He said: "The amount of 5-axis strategies on hyperMILL far exceeds that of any other vendor in the market and this was a major plus point for us when selecting the package.

It has more strategies than we have ever had scope to use.

As a relatively new company only set up in 2000, this gives us the potential to grow into the package as a company." Another major plus point for nine employee Outright Engineering is the improved surface finish of components.

The previous package employed at Outright Engineering, like many others in the marketplace did not have well established simultaneous 5-axis strategies and experience.

Ward said: "The previous CAD/CAM package did not have particularly good simultaneous 5-axis strategies and this continually left witness marks on components caused by the inconsistent tool path calculated by the package.

hyperMILL has eradicated this problem and has significantly improved surface finish and product quality." As Ward concluded: "hyperMILL has been a revelation to us.

Many of our customers send files via Catia, Unigraphics and a host of additional formats; hyperMILL has excellent file translators that decipher every file we receive with exceptional speed.

The package has improved productivity, product quality and the through flow of work whilst eliminating scrap that may be caused by collisions and potential programming errors." Pictures: Pictures can be viewed on the JCB Diesel Max website: .

* About OPEN MIND - OPEN MIND Technologies UK is a subsidiary of OPEN MIND Technologies AG, which is part of the Man and Machine Group, one of the world's largest Autodesk distributors with a turnover of EUR 140 million.

Formed in 1994, OPEN MIND is the developer of hyperMILL CAM software.

It has over 7,500 installations worldwide, served through a global distribution network.

The company offers a comprehensive range of 2D, 3D and 5-axis modules providing a fully integrated manufacturing concept which covers the entire manufacturing process.

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