7/22/2016

CAD/CAMSystemsWhatmakesagoodcad/camsystem?

CAD/CAMSystems6WhatisaGoodCAD/CAMSystem?
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WARNING:Machinetoolspresentasafetyhazard.Improperoperationcanresultinsevereinjury.Thesetopics
arefornonlaboratorystudyonlyandarenottobeusedinconjunctionwiththeoperationofanytoolor
machinedescribedherein.Neveruseamachinetoolwithoutthesupervisionofaqualifiedinstructor.

Free
Download
DWG CAD
Easily open,
edit & share
DWG file, easyto-use for
DWG file
drafting.

AgoodCADsystemhasthefollowingcharacteristics:
Easytolearn:Itshouldbeastepbystepprocessdoneinalogicalmanner.Itshouldbemenu
drivenandhighlygraphicwithasmuchdataaspossibledisplayedonthescreen.Italso
shouldhaveanonlinetutorialsothenewusercangetstartedquickly,onlinecontexthelp
accessiblefromanypointintheprogram,andonlinedocumentation.
Simpletouse:Itshouldbeadaptabletoaparticularapplicationandshouldnotrequirea
specialisttooperateit.
Macrocommands:LikeCNCmacrosthisisasinglekeyorcommandthatcausesthe
executionofastringofcommands.
Embeddedprogramminglanguage:TheCADsoftwareshouldhaveitsowncustomized
language.
Expandable:Itshouldbeabletogrowwiththeneedsofacompany.Youshouldbeableto
changeperipheraldevicessuchasdisplaymonitororplotter.
Opendatabase:Itshoulddomorethanjustcreatedrawing.Itshouldbeabletogeneratebill
ofmaterialsandmaintainpricesandotherdatabaseinformationaswellasofferingsome
levelofdataprotection.
Compatible:ItshouldbecompatiblewithotherCAD/CAMandanalysisprograms.Itshould
easilybeabletoexchangegeometricmodelswithotherprogramsusingstandardmodel
interchangefileformatsuchasIGES,DXF,andSTL.

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7/22/2016

CAD/CAMSystemsWhatmakesagoodcad/camsystem?

Free
Download
DWG CAD

ZWCAD,
ACAD
Compatible,
easy-to-use
for DWG le
drafting.

www.zwsoft.com/DWG

ButwhichCAD/CAMsystemisthebest?ThebestCAD/CAMsystemwillusually
bethesystemthatissimplythemostproductive.Insomecasesthetypeofmachined
partsproducedcandictateproductivityandthechoiceofthesystem.However,more
oftentheproductivityfactorisbasedontheprogrammingstaff.Ifastaffhasa
significantamountofexperienceontheLIBRACAD/CAMsystemthentherewould
agreatdealofexpensivetrainingandrampuptimeinvolvedinchangingtothe
ARIESCAD/CAMsystem.Alsonotethatitisrarelythecasethatnewfeaturesof
theLIBRAorARIESCAD/CAMsystemsarecompellingenoughtomakeaswitch.
Eachsystemchasestheotherwithnewfeaturesandinlessthanayearthenew
featureifofvaluewillbeaddedtothenextrelease.Rememberthis:Fora
programmerthebestsystemmaybetheonethatgetsthemsteadyemployment.Fora
shopownerthebestsystemmaybetheonethatallowsthemtofindmanypre
trainedemployees.R.S.

AspartofaUnitedStatesDepartmentofLaborprogramin2000atourcampusin
SouthernCaliforniawasaskedtoconductasurveyofthemachinetooltrades.Of
particularnotewasthatoutofapproximately500respondentmachinistsonly15%
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CAD/CAMSystemsWhatmakesagoodcad/camsystem?

werecaptiveemployeesofacompanythatengineeredtheproducttheymachined.
Thisleft85%toworkinjobshopswhichbidonandmachinedproductforthe
designingandengineeringcompanies.
70%ofthejobshopshadatleastoneCNCmachineandusedaninhouse
CAD/CAMsystemtoprogramthem(readveryfewmanualprogramers).However
themajorityoftheshopsbidfromanorthographicblueprintoraDWGorDFXfile
anddidnotimportoracceptsolidmodels.R.S.

korloy cutting
tools
U drills, High Feed
Cutters
Multifunctionals,
tool holdings

JustafollowupthoughthavingonlyalooseconnectiontoCAD/CAM:Shouldthe
aforementionedsurveyhavetakenplacein1988Isuggestthat75%ofthejobshops
insouthernCaliforniawouldhavebeenstronglydependantuponaerospace/military
work.Howeverduetothecollapseofthatindustry(theBerlinwallcamedownin
1989)agreatmanyshopswentoutofbusiness.Thosethatsurviveddiversifiedand
tendtoblendalittleaerospacewithcommercialworktoday.
Buttherewasalargesegmentofmanualmachineshopsthatwerebarleytouched.
Particularlythosethathadaninventoryoflargemachines(likethisverticallathe)
andhadneverbecomecompletelydependentonaerospaceandusedlittleifany
CNCmachineryorCAD/CAM.ACNCverticallatheliketheoneshownwouldbe
veryexpensivesothereisaneconomicadvantagetohavingmanualmachinesthat
arepaidfor.Theseshopscontinuewithlargeoneupslikeshipspropellersoroffshore
drillinghardware.Rightnowtheycan'tfindmachinistswhocanruntheseold
manualmachines.(51205).R.S.

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label:cad/cam,system,integration,comparison,useof,teaching

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