CAM program keeps pace with part complexity

END USER: Castle Precision Engineering Ltd., +44 141-6341377, www.castleprecision.com.
CHALLENGE: Overcome a CAM system’s limitations when transitioning to machining more complex parts.
SOLUTION: New CAM software.
SOLUTION PROVIDER: DP Technology Corp., (805) 388-6000, www.dptechnology.com.

After Jack Tiefenbrun founded Glasgow, Scotland-based Castle Precision Engineering Ltd. in 1951, Singer Sewing Machine Co. became the company’s largest customer. Fast forward to the present and Castle focuses mainly on producing aerospace engine parts.

While transitioning to ever higher value-added, increasingly complex parts to better differentiate itself in the global market, Castle found that its CAM software lacked sophistication and was limited when trying to keep up with the demands of the new parts, noted Operations Director Yan Tiefenbrun. The limitations included effectively handling complex back boring and controlling RTCP (rotation tool center point) movement, he said. “Essentially, when we were transitioning to new 5-axis machining strategies, our CAM software really struggled.”

Courtesy of DP Technology

A manufacturing engineer at Castle Precision Engineering uses ESPRIT CAM software, which is integrated with the part manufacturer’s front-end SolidWorks CAD software and back-end Vericut simulation software (shown on the right-hand screen).

In addition, the CAM supplier didn’t serve customers in a timely manner, Tiefenbrun said. “We were going through a reseller in the U.K., who was communicating with the U.S., who was communicating with Germany, who was communicating with other countries. By the time we got someone, it had gone through so many different people that we were 3 to 6 months in line. This was just far too slow for us.”

Also problematic was the process of receiving software changes, which required the CAM developer to generate complex pieces of code that weren’t necessarily proven out. “We would usually not just be waiting for it,” Tiefenbrun said, “but we would be the guinea pigs as well.”

As a result, Castle began the “intense” and “methodical” process of obtaining a new CAM package by requesting full demonstration versions from several developers, he explained. To test the packages against the same baseline, Castle designed a fantasy part that had all the features the manufacturer recognized as having caused past CAM failures. “We referred to it as the CAM killer,” Tiefenbrun said.

All the CAM systems excelled in some areas but not others, and Castle determined that none of the ones tested proved an adequate fit. However, Castle has a strong relationship with DMG Mori Seiki Co. Ltd. and the machine builder recommended ESPRIT CAM software from partner-company DP Technology Corp., Camarillo, Calif. Tiefenbrun added that about half of the 70-plus CNC machine tools at Castle’s 100,000-sq.-ft. facility are from DMG Mori.