CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
4 June 2008
Implementation Investments
Delcam’s FeatureCAM Generates Hundreds of Programs Each Month
By using Delcam’s FeatureCAM CAM software, Tim Hawkins of Redline Precision Machine can generate hundreds of CNC programs each month. "We’re able to work on really short lead times. That’s where we generally outperform bigger companies. People come straight to me and I can get machining started almost immediately if they are really under pressure,” says Mr. Hawkins.
Redline, which is based in Prosperity, South Carolina, specialises in machining prototypes and one-of-a-kind parts. Over the past thirteen years, the company has followed a path of slow and steady growth with a primary focus on quality and customer service. Starting with only a few manual machines, brothers Tim and Mark Hawkins have steadily increased their machining capabilities and added employees to keep pace with customer demand.
Tim Hawkins, who runs the machine shop, enjoys the challenge of working on something different with every order. "Our biggest strength is our ability to adapt to the needs of the customer, no matter what. We never know what we’ll be doing two days in a row and that’s the way we like to keep it. We do a lot of prototype work and that’s what we’re good at,” states Mr. Hawkins.
Almost five years ago, Redline purchased a 3-axis Bridgeport CNC milling machine to increase productivity, together with a copy of FeatureCAM 2D CAM software. Impressed with FeatureCAM’s powerful capabilities and ease of use, Redline decided to upgrade to FeatureMILL2.5D for regular production work and FeatureMILL3D for cutting more complex surfaces.
Last year, a good customer needed parts produced for extrusion dies. The dies had intricate details and small radii that made the work impossible on a mill. When the customer said that he’d keep them busy if Redline could produce good parts, Mr. Hawkins looked at wire EDM to cut the deep narrow slots and complex profiles. He purchased a Charmilles Robofil 290P along with FeatureWIRE software to run it.
Despite having no previous experience running or programming a wire EDM, Mr. Hawkins was cutting parts on his Robofil in less than two weeks. In less than six months, the Robofil had logged over a thousand hours and generated enough income from EDM work to pay for itself.
"With FeatureWIRE, I just taught myself,” claimed Mr. Hawkins. "It was so similar to the milling packages that I picked up on it right away. Even the 4-axis programming was pretty much self-explanatory through the prompts that pop up on the screen as you progress through the programming procedure. I’ve been doing some 4-axis burns that are probably just as complicated as you could get.”
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