CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
14 January 2011
Implementation Investments
5-axis WorkNC CAM Software Optimizes Machine Utilization at Prospect Mold
With sixteen seats of WorkNC CAM software, Prospect Mold, based in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, keeps its machines cutting metal for 80% of the time. The company can trace its roots back to 1945 and, since acquiring the Akromold company in 1997, has grown to be one of the largest mold making facilities in North America. Prospect Mold serves a wide range of industries, including aerospace, which forms the largest part of its business, automotive, packaging, leisure and construction. Continual investment in the latest equipment and expansion of the number of 5-axis CNC machining centers it uses has bolstered its success in the aerospace market.
Mark Gruic, Data Coordinator at Prospect Mold says, “We have been using WorkNC CAM software since the late 80s. It was the first in the market and its toolpaths are phenomenal. Since then, we have been adding more seats, all of which we use on the shop floor. It is pretty easy to use and a lot quicker than the systems we had before, encouraging us to keep buying more and more licenses.” Mold designs are created in I-DEAS NX®. Every element of the tool including core and cavity blocks, lifters and slides is then exported to WorkNC-CAD on the shop floor. Mark Gruic continues, “The machine operators can turn off layers to remove water lines, for example, and do a little bit of surfacing to block ejector pin holes or fill gaps in the model. WorkNC-CAD does everything we need, is easy to use, and is completely integrated with the WorkNC CAM software.”
The seven 5-axis CNC machines at Prospect Mold include a Fooke Endura 905, an FPT Dino, and a Fidia K165. The sixteen operators use the dedicated 5-axis CNC commands in WorkNC software for cutting parts such as carbon fiber wing spars and turbine blade dies. Collision avoidance and simulation within the 5-axis CAM software take account of the limits of each machine, introducing flip and unwind movements where necessary to ensure safe and reliable toolpaths are always created. Mark Gruic adds, “We work two shifts, preparing most of the WorkNC CNC programs during the day and batch process long calculations overnight. We merge multiple programs so that the machines can run unattended for up to seven hours overnight or on weekends. WorkNC is absolutely reliable, enabling us to operate unmanned with confidence.”
The intelligence in WorkNC’s toolpaths and the power of the graphical editing are particularly appreciated by Prospect Mold. Mark Gruic says, “The amount of time the tool is out of the material is really low, and it stays cutting in one area at a time, maximizing machine efficiency. The flexibility of the toolpath editing is something which you don’t get in other CNC software - if you want to change or remove a path you can do it very quickly. Our operators really like the software because it is so easy to use with low training requirements.”
Program preparation in WorkNC is virtually automatic for the company. Sequence files, or templates, for similar jobs contain all the operations and tooling ready set up. The operators simply need to load the new geometry and programming is complete. Not only does this greatly reduce the time required to produce a program, but it ensures that consistent machining methods are being used which, in turn, guarantees quality and delivers predictable cycle times.
Using WorkNC CAM software on the shop floor makes the best use of the operators’ skills and increases flexibility. Mark Gruic says, “We can transfer WorkNC stock models between operators so that a re-roughing or finishing operation can use the model created by a previous operation as a starting point. This eliminates air cutting as WorkNC knows exactly where the material is located. We can also rapidly move jobs to another machine, which simplifies scheduling and optimizes machine tool utilization and productivity. Furthermore, operators can program while the machines are cutting, which makes them far more efficient and improves job satisfaction levels.”
Mark Gruic concludes, “We will invest in more 5-axis WorkNC licenses as our 5-axis CNC machining requirements grow. We are also looking forward to implementing the next 64-bit and parallel processing version of the software, which will speed up calculation times even more. The benefit of WorkNC to Prospect Mold is phenomenal, we monitor our machine utilization levels and we consistently spend 80% of our time cutting metal.”
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