One CAM system to meet every need

This single-system strategy makes the manufacturing process more fluid, faster and more transparent. Benefits can be seen as early as the work preparation stage. Instead of working in the machine shop, the NC programmer works on a large monitor in a quiet office. As a result, the machines are always productive. In addition, errors are minimized because the information from the CAD model is sent directly through to the machine with no loss of precision. The machine operator receives clear instructions for setup and required tools – with no manual entries or paperwork. All data remains in a single system from the very start. This is efficient and less susceptible to errors and standardizes machine operation.

Many CAM systems make it possible to work with digital twins of tools. Modern solutions do even more: They know every detail of the company's manufacturing environment and have access to its unique manufacturing knowledge. This ensures greater reliability, standardization and automation in programming and manufacturing. System-specific libraries contain true-to-life digital representations of the machines, controls, tools, clamping devices and units with their respective geometric and technical properties.

The individual manufacturing knowledge is contained in templates and features. This gives every user access to proven methods after only a short training period. In automatic mode for related machining tasks, NC programmers select suitable machines in the virtual environment, define the optimal setup and select corresponding machining templates. A modern CAM system like Tebis then selects suitable and available tools and calculates collision-checked NC programs that are optimally matched to the manufacturing environment.

CAM solutions with integrated simulation technology provide a high degree of safety. Such systems already offer a high degree of realism when defining the setup in the virtual machine environment. Users then check calculated NC programs in the virtual CAM environment. CAM systems with integrated NC program simulation detect possible collisions and limit switch problems when the NC paths are calculated and automatically avoid them, for instance, by reducing milling areas and using 5-axis avoidance.

Modern CAM systems lay the groundwork for high-quality parts and the corresponding degree of NC automation in the manufacturing design stage. Depending on the manufacturing technology, NC programmers use different CAD functions to prepare their manufacturing models for subsequent NC processes.

Of course, NC free-form surfaces can only be as good as the underlying CAD data. Good CAM software is therefore also characterized by powerful integrated functions for structuring, designing, repairing, morphing, scanning and reverse engineering. 

For the quality of manufactured surfaces – especially for free-form geometry – it is also critical that the CAM system calculates the NC paths on mathematically exact surfaces instead of on tessellated substitute models such as polyhedrons. To avoid manual reworking, it should also be possible for the user to influence the finish quality with adjustable NC point distributions.