Shaving minutes and increasing quality are the goals of every manufacturing business, which is why having the right tools for the job can get a fledgling business off the ground.
Such is the case with Sterling Technologies Inc., a Morrisville, Vermont-based job shop that serves a handful of industries, including medical and energy, turning out parts smaller than a breadbox.
According to Jeff Walker, co-owner of Sterling Technologies, “The majority of our work is for the semiconductor industry, including machinery and testing equipment for the medical industry.”
Walker and his business partner, Michael Boudreau, were childhood friends who followed similar career paths: Boudreau specialized in design and manufacturing, while Walker worked in the model shop at IBM for 20 years.
When they accepted positions at the same company, the pair put their heads together and soon had a new goal.
“We had all these ideas of things we wanted to do,” Walker says. “We decided that, if we wanted to pursue those interests, we’d have to do it ourselves.”
When Sterling opened its doors 10 years ago, the doors were that of a garage. The first business space was just 526ft2, but Walker and Boudreau were able to hire two employees. Over time, as the company moved locations, they added more staff and today have 10 employees. Walker handles manufacturing while Boudreau oversees business and customer service.
Up-front investments
Knowing he’d need a powerful computer-aided-manufacturing (CAM) system to be competitive and turn a profit, Walker acquired the Edgecam solution by Vero Software.
“One of the first things I had to do 12 years ago, when I was hired at my last company, was find a new CAM package for them and implement it,” Walker says. “That system was Edgecam.”
In choosing a solution for his own business, Walker chose the same for its ease of use, functionality, and support strength.
“We got it because there was no learning curve and I knew we would get the help we needed as we added machines,” Walker states.
Sterling is primarily a milling outfit that machines a range of materials, including titanium, aluminum, stainless steel, plastics, ceramics, tool steels, and nickel alloys, using Haas mills and/or 5-axis Mikron mills.
While the company performs some simultaneous 5-axis milling, the majority of its work occurs in 3+2-axis, during which the cutting tool is locked into a fixed position as the two rotational axes move. Some of Sterling’s machine tools have been fitted with trunnion tables to make the conversion from three axes to five.
Sterling saves time and increases accuracy by using the functionality within the software specific to the company’s needs.
“One of the things we really liked about Edgecam is that we use Renishaw probing and for quite a few years now, they’ve had Renishaw probing cycles built right into the package,” Walker says.
The software supports Renishaw probing part setup cycles, which integrates by adding a toolbar to the user interface. This supports data-offset part-position requirements that can be a prerequisite to cutting.
According to Walker, “Having the probing cycle built into the software saves us a lot of time, because we would have to make a subprogram by hand.”
Walker also uses the software’s Code Wizard, a feature designed to allow programmers to write custom post-processors. Walker typically writes his posts with Edgecam reseller Joe Sanders of M2 Technologies to ensure that the final product is flawless.
“We write a basic post together and then we work with it a little bit to get changes made,” Walker notes. “When the post comes out, it’s ready to go to the machine with no hand editing. Our parts change all the time. Revisions are made and we repost the code quite a bit, so having to rewrite all of that would be a problem.”
Seamless software
Walker also uses the software’s CAD Links, which allows the CAM and CAD packages to work even more closely together.
“Edgecam opens Solidworks files, but the use of the CAD Links provides even more information,” Walker says. “It passes all of the information to Edgecam, including the coordinate planes.”
Elements such as solids, fixtures, and stock can be defined within the package and then transfer to Edgecam. With the use of CAD Links, Feature Finder is able to interpret additional data.
“This application saves an imported assembly and records thread data, so when using the Feature Find to identify tapped holes, it will do that, but the CAD Links will tell you if those holes are threaded,” Walker explains. “It can keep you from missing something. This saves a lot of time.”
Walker also credits the software’s ability to create dynamically coordinated planes for increasing programming efficiency in the shop. The software allows the programmer to create construction planes (CPL), used to define a local coordinate system at any orientation to the world axes, by dragging the CPL marker from the screen and onto a face, vertices, or edge.
Once the marker has been put into its desired spot, it automatically snaps and re-orients. Dragging the marker over the model instantly offers options of alignment and location, making it simple to find the desired orientation.
“That’s a big time saver for us,” Walker says. “Every facet you want to turn to, you have to have a coordinate plane.”
With more than 10 years of Edgecam experience under his belt, Walker has been pleased with the continued upgrades and enhanced functionality that the software has provided throughout the years.
“There’s always something in there that makes something we do go more easily and work better,” Walker says. “It helps us do a better job.”
Touch probe support systems
Users can measure workpieces and simulate probe movements with six individual measuring cycles.
Probe: A selection of probes are available or users can create their own combinations of body, extensions, and probe stylus.
Probe surface cycle: This cycle detects the position of a surface, and updates the machine’s current datum by the deviation from the expected position. When creating the cycle, users select a point on the surface.
Probe fourth-axis cycle: This cycle measures the slope of a surface, and updates the rotation of the machine’s fourth axis by the deviation from the expected slope. When creating the cycle, users select two points on the surface.
Probe feed: Protected positioning moves the probe safely into position. If there is a probe trigger during a protected positioning move, emergency stop occurs and an error message appears. Cycles offer a number of ways to touch the part and establish a point(s) that can be used for various functions such as update a datum, check position, or size.
Probe corner cycle: This cycle measures an internal or external corner and updates the current datum by the deviation from the expected position.
Probe bore/boss cycle: This cycle detects the position of a circular component and updates the machine’s current datum by the deviation from the expected position. When creating the cycle, users select an arc on the bore/boss, determining the center position and diameter.
Probe web/pocket cycle: This cycle detects the position of a web or pocket, and updates current datum by the deviation from the expected position. When creating the cycle, users select two points: on either side of the web or on opposite walls of the pocket.
Edgecam, by Vero Software
www.edgecam.com
M2 Technologies
www.m2t.com
Sterling Technologies Inc.
www.sterlingtechnologiesvt.com
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