axes, including the ability to machine
inclined 5-axis features by employing
angled toolholders. The design
specifications of their medical parts
also require C&A’s engineers to
perform an extensive amount of 3D
surface machining on their Swiss
machines, functionality that was not
available years ago.
To cope with the increasing
complexity, C&A Tool took the unique
step of forming a dedicated Swiss-programming department two years
ago, a group anchored by Esslinger
and colleague Chris Korte.
“That is not really how Swiss
machining was done even five years
ago,” Esslinger states. “Programming
was not a defined task. Programming
is the most important time on the job,
when you are creating the steps you
are going to use on the job.”
As the complexity of its parts have
grown, and C&A put more emphasis
on the process and programming
function, PartMaker software has
become the central nervous system
of its medical parts manufacturing
business on the Swiss machines.
PartMaker is a computer aided
manufacturing (CAM) system that
allows the user to automatically
generate an NC program for a machine
tool from an engineering design.
Programming at C&A Tool for medical parts is often done directly from a solid
model and shown above is a medical part programmed in PartMaker.
MORE WITH LESS
The complexity of the medical parts
it makes has driven growth in C&A’s
Swiss machining. However, this
growth has come with the challenge of
finding skilled Swiss operators. “The
parts are getting more complex. It is
hard to find good Swiss operators,”
Simpson comments.
PartMaker’s 3D simulation function
has helped C&A cope with the tight
supply of skilled Swiss machine
operators. Once the development
of a part process in PartMaker is
complete, the software allows the
part to be simulated on screen in
a 3D simulation. This allows the
programmer to see what the part will
look like before committing machine
resources. It will also detect any tool
collisions or machine crashes.
PartMaker’s Full Machine Simulation
function allows C&A’s programmers to
simulate the machining of a part in a
virtual reality environment on their PC
away from the shop floor. This enables
them to see exactly how the part will
look on an exact machine model, and
to detect any errors on the part or
any collisions that may occur in the
machine’s working envelope before
setting up a job.
“With PartMaker, we can do more
with less. The more time you take with
the software, running the collision
detection, the less time you spend in
setup,” Esslinger comments. “An extra
20 minutes on PartMaker can save
eight hours on third shift in the middle
of the night when no one is here to
help. The best way to evaluate the
improvement is to look at programming
time. We have cut programming time
