- July 9, 2020
- Posted by: admin
- Category: CAMWorks
In the middle of the current COVID-19 pandemic, NCTOOLS was contacted by a young engineer interested in making a fundamental change in their furniture manufacturing business. Their small, family-owned business of building custom made furniture was fraught with older technology and virtually no automation apart from an older router. A full upgrade to 21st-century technologies was absolutely necessary. We immediately recognised there was an opportunity for a new push towards local manufacturing and get ready for a potential boom after this pandemic passes.
Automation was key to the company, and NCTOOLS envisioned changing the manufacturing process. The company began with a new, locally made CNC router, with MULTICAM Australia being not only the best but also the most obvious choice.
From here, the furniture company investigated CAM software that is integrated into Solidworks, Nesting insides Solidworks and software capable of generating reliable NC codes. The decision was clear – CAMWorks software.
The implementation seemed difficult: all design remodeled into Solidworks converting old 2D DXF files in 3D Models, numerous drawings redesigned in 3D and nested into CAMWorks, and toolpathing all parts. The process, however, was swift and simple.
There was one process the company did not take into consideration – thousands of existing designs, proven and drawn in 2D and ready to cut – what would happen to these designs. The conversion process of 2D to 3D is relatively simple; however, these drawings needed converting. This was going to suspend production, with new machinery sitting idle for weeks while new drawings were rendered and ready. This was set to cost the company considerably.
The solution was clear: CAMWorks Automation.
This is the exact sort of challenge we welcome. Our development team created this perfect solution in a scant few days:
- Import existing 2D DXF files into Solidworks;
- Apply thickness;
- Create a single assembly file;
- Apply automatic tool path;
- Simulate the parts for errors;
- Generate the NC code.
The entire process – completed in a few minutes.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-zXBr6Yn30&w=560&h=315]
Automation is the key to manufacturing success for many companies in Australia. If you and your company are interested in automation for manufacturing processes, contact us directly.
For more information on CAMWorks Software and product enquiries visit us at https://nctools.com.au/ or call us on +61 3 8618 6884