The problem
Job quotes : Manual cycle time estimates can often be wildly inaccurate. If you are running a job shop, if the estimate is too high you lose the order, and if it is too low you produce at a loss. And how much time do you spend each week estimating the cycle time manually when you could be spending the time more usefully?

Scheduling : Whether you run a job shop or produce your own parts, you must make a schedule for a new part much before you have even cut the first part. So how do you make an accurate schedule without an accurate cycle time?

Program efficiency : To arrive at the shortest cycle time, you must try out a number of alternate processes and cutting parameters, each time quickly and accurately calculating the cycle time. When you write a program manually, you barely have the time to estimate the cycle time once. How sure are you that your program results in the least possible cycle time?

The solution
CAD/CAM's cycle time calculations have less than 1% error. When calculating the cycle time, CAD/CAM considers every single tool motion made, and all miscellaneous functions like tool change, pallet change, door open/close, etc. which add to the cycle time. Acceleration and deceleration times of the axes and spindle are considered. All these values are the actual parameters of your machines.

NC programs the way you want them.

The problem
A program in a format unfamiliar to the machine operator can be dangerous. For example, the operator might start machining after the tool offset block when restarting after a power down and cause a collision.

The solution
In CAD/CAM's highly versatile Generic postprocessor builder, postprocessors can be configured to output programs very close to or exactly the way you want them.

Sample program

O0126 N1 (DATE 5-10-1997) N2 (IDLER SHAFT) N3 (BMW-66125-R) N4 (ROUGH TURN) N5 (PCLNL 2020K12 R0.8) ------------------------ N6 T0101 N7 (FACE) N8 G00 X200. Z10. M08 N9 Z7. N10 G50 S1200 N11 G96 S180 M04 N12 X154. Z7. N13 G72 W3.R0.039 N14 G72 P60 Q70 U0. W0. F0.25 ---------------- N15 G00 Z0. N16 G01 X-2. N17 G00 Z7. N18 X200. N19 (TURN CONTOUR) N20 Z2. N21 X154. Z2. N22 G71 U3. R1.0 N23 G71 P105 Q140 U1. W0.5 F0.25 N24 G00 X42. N25 G01 Z-0.469 N26 X50. Z-4.469 N27 Z-40.571 N28 X90.944 Z-73.326 N29 G02 X115.027 Z-80. R14.2 N30 G01 X138.4 N31 X154. N32 G00 X200. Z-79.5 N33 (FINISH TURN) N34 (PDJNL 2020K15 R0.4) N35 T0202 N36 (TURN CONTOUR) N37 G00 X200. Z10. M08 N38 Z1.883 N39 G50 S1200 N40 G96 S270 M04 N41 G00 X46.566 N42 G01 X42.566 F0.125 N43 Z0.283

N44 G42 X42. Z0.-------------------------- N45 X50. Z-4. N46 Z-40. N47 X91.187 Z-72.95 N48 G02 X116.627 Z-80. R15. N49 G01 X140. N50 G40 X154. N51 G00 Z1.883 N52 X200. N53 (CENTER DRILL) N54 (CD H 4) N55 T0303 N56 (C DRILL) N57 G00 X200. Z10. M08 N58 X0. N59 Z2. N60 G97 S4000 M03 N61 G74 R1.0 N62 G74 Z-4.202 Q6.202 F0.1 N63 G00 Z10. N64 (DRILL 20 DIA.) N65 (DR 20) N66 T0404 N67 (DRILL 20 DIA.) N68 G00 X200. Z10. M08 N69 X0. N70 Z2. N71 G97 S397 M03 N72 G74 R1.0 N73 G74 Z-36.009 Q6. F0.15 N74 G00 Z10. N75 (THREAD) N76 (L 166F 2525 310A) N77 T0505 N78 (M50 X 2) N79 G00 X200. Z10. M08 N80 Z-2. N81 X54. N82 G97 S509 M04 N83 G76 P000060 Q10 R0 N84 G76 X47.6 Z-40. R0. P1200 Q346 F2. N85 G00 X200. N86 M30 %

OK, the program's done - now who's going to document it ?

The problem
You have written a killer program and the parts are cut and delivered . What if the same job came to you after 6 months with design changes ? You spend hours trying to decipher the old program and rewrite it.

When you give your operator a program, how do you tell him what tools are to be used ? If you are like most programmers, you probably give him a hand-written list or expect the operator to read the program and ready the tools.

On the shopfloor you are so hard pressed for time that you barely have enough time and patience to sit down and document your program.

The solution
CAD/CAM generates shop documents automatically. It saves you time and ensures that documentation is up-to-date