A reliable partner right from the start

Company founder Christoph Kestermann started making foundry models 20 years ago. The company’s portfolio now includes sophisticated prototype manufacturing, die and mold manufacturing, especially in the areas of laminating, deep-drawing, and foaming dies, as well as thermoforming, model manufacturing of all types, such as for functional and design testing, fixture manufacturing, qualified measurement tasks and contract manufacturing,

All of these also place high demands on the CAM system, 

founder and owner Kestermann explains. "We have relied on Tebis from the very start – this system is our first choice for complex geometries and free-form surfaces in model manufacturing. And the CAM system has closely guided us in our development and the expansion of our product range over the years – we have been able to use it to efficiently implement all our programming tasks at a very high level of quality."

User benefits include more efficient algorithms in the CAM software.

Tebis version 4.1 has become a great deal faster than version 4.0,

Kestermann says. "The new GUI is also much more user friendly." For example, the programmer now has access to a true structure tree, not just a layer tree.  "Improvements like this," the programming expert adds, "also make traceability on the workpiece much more transparent."

Tebis has also significantly improved the automatic programming features in the new version. The possibilities for extensive automation of programming steps are based on the software clearly and uniquely identifying geometric features of a designed part. Ultimately, standardized production processes and consistent classification of the parts enable machinists to apply similar process steps to workpieces with similar geometries. 

By using these programming templates, the programmers can save themselves a lot of routine work. This is because the Tebis CAM software quickly and reliably detects relevant geometry features in the designed parts. The programmer only has to modify the preset database parameters for the desired geometries. Everything else is covered by the refined algorithms in the software.

For example, the CAD data is color-coded – whether it comes from the company's own design department or from designs provided by the customer. The colors provide essential information, such as whether a feature is a fitting bore, a free-form surface, or a thread. "This allows the programmer to spend more time on optimizing the program, placing clamping devices, or closing missing surfaces," Kestermann summarizes. 

Tebis 4.1 has made specific tasks, such as correcting surface errors and closing “gaps” in the imported data, extremely simple and efficient.

In addition to the tools, machinists are currently in the process of recording the clamping devices.

We're just now building up our library with the precise data,”,

Kestermann explains. "We're using the manufacturers' data for our clamping elements from Schunk and SMW Autoblock, measuring our own clamping cubes, which we also market as our own product, and we’re importing the precise data into the system. We also work a lot with multiple setups – the data has to be perfect for this."

And of course the digital twins for the processing machines are also incorporated into the databases. "Nowadays, nearly every machine manufacturer provides a data set of the machine as a digital twin with its machine," explains Kestermann. "However, these are standard models that do not necessarily reflect the reality of the delivered machine to the required degree of precision. Because every machine is unique and the wall of the machining space can deviate from the standard model by a few tenths of a millimeter."

Problems with limit switches at the Emsdetten-based die, model and mold makers are now a thing of the past. And even with large parts, highly precise and reliable machining with tilted axes is now a routine matter, thanks to the simulation. The goal is unattended milling, for instance at night and on weekends. This requires stable processes and mature, collision-free programs.

We can no longer imagine working without a digital twin and a virtual machine, especially considering our parts that are sometimes highly sophisticated,”

says the programming expert. "Without simulation, any complex machining operation would be going out into the unknown – with an uncertain outcome. The fact that we can be certain of optimum machining results in advance is an important factor for competitive work." Here, too, the new Tebis 4.1 version stands out with an extended and optimized range of functions.