Get With The Program

Articles • March 2, 2017 • Jim Walsh and Marc Holthuizen

Get With The Program: Maximizing spindle time

CNC machine tools only generate revenue when they are producing good parts. The more good parts they make, the quicker the return on investment for machine tools. To maximize output, the total per-part machining time, including preparation, must be minimized.

Articles • January 13, 2017 • Bryan Jacobs

Optimization software saves time

Good optimization software must take into account all the known challenges to optimal machining, which include heat, vibration, deflection, chip buildup, material hardness and a machine tool's horsepower, torque, rigidity, spindle speed, maximum feed rate and accuracy. What's more, end users must also select the appropriate cutting tools and machining parameters.

Articles • December 1, 2016 • Stas Mylek

Achieving machining effectiveness

In the first part of this two-part series, I looked at what actually happens in the cutting zone and how that knowledge allows end users to select the best possible cutting tool and CAD/CAM strategy for a particular material to optimize material removal. This second part covers why it is important to adopt this approach not only for all CNC machining processes, but as a significant production cost-saving measure companywide and industrywide.n

Articles • October 1, 2016 • Stas Mylek

Bring on the Heat

Get With The Program column offers a heightened appreciation for the roles that machining parameters and heat play when cutting metal.

Articles • September 1, 2016 • Kip Hanson

Generate consistent and accurate pricing

Generate consistent and accurate pricing with cost-estimating software

Articles • August 1, 2016 • Bill Bither

Monitoring machines in real time

If you're considering implementing a real-time machine monitoring system and looking for solid reasons to make the investment, you're in for a pleasant surprise. Real-time machine monitoring and overall equipment effectiveness software can help address many issues, whether they're obvious or not. There are a number of warning signs indicating that it might be time to investigate acquiring OEE software.

Articles • May 1, 2016 • Alan Levine

Get With The Program: Barrel-cutter CAM strategies

Barrel cutters are applied for specialized milling applications, and recent advancements in CAM software expand the use of these tools. Geometrically, a barrel cutter has a large cutting radius on its side that closely matches the curvature of a part's surface and allows a large step-over between passes. The result is cycle-time reductions of up to 90 percent when finishing while imparting fine surface finishes.

Articles • March 1, 2016 • Pete Tecos

Measuring asset performance

In today's hypercompetitive, globalized economy, businesses are pressured to do more, do it faster, do it right the first time and do it all with fewer resources. The Internet of Things and Industry 4.0 have given birth to asset-monitoring software that should enhance competitiveness in this environment, but it can also be like turning on a waterfall of data that raises the risk of "task overload." Faced with task overload, most people focus on what they think is most important while a seemingly peripheral task is temporarily ignored.

Articles • January 1, 2016 • Russ Bukowski

The CAD/CAM user experience

CAD/CAM software developers are no longer competing only with each other. They are also competing with their customers' expectations of what a satisfying user experience (UX) should be.

Articles • October 1, 2015 • Steve Kidd

Constant chip load machining

A Seattle shop reaps the benefits of constant chip load machining, according to the October Get With The Program column in Cutting Tool Engineering magazine.

Articles • September 1, 2015 • David McPhail

US among lowest-cost locations for manufacturing

While the U.S. greenback has markedly appreciated in the last year, the Boston Consulting Group's Global Manufacturing Cost-Competitiveness Index shows that the U.S. remains one of the lowest-cost locations for manufacturing in the developed world. Productivity increases are largely responsible, and a key factor in this success is a relentless push to data-driven manufacturing.

Articles • August 1, 2015 • Christopher Tate

CAM software considerations

Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Americas (MHPSA) is setting up a new facility in Texas to support the service operation of our business. The new shop is fully operational, but decisions are still being made on items such as tooling and CAM systems.