suppliers have been reluctant to share detailed 3D geometry models of their products, fearful that they may be giving com- petitive suppliers access to trade secrets.”
That reluctance to share data has been slowly changing in recent years, especially with a greater emphasis on the importance of NC program simulation in the CNC machin- ing processes, he added. “In fact, some manufacturing organizations require suppliers to provide 3D models of CNC machines, cutting tools, and fixtures at the time of purchase. Sometimes models are only supplied directly to the end-user, under a licensing agreement, but more and more 3D models are simply being provided on suppliers’ websites. At CGTech we’re also seeing machine tool builders becoming more likely to share models directly with us, for use on specific end-user customer projects.” Today’s simulation users typically want software that’s faster
and easier to use, Hasenjaeger said, but also they’re looking for the best ways to improve the design of their machining
processes. “End users want an easy way to create and share descriptions of their manufacturing processes, with the down- stream workshop, with upstream designers, and with peers in their domain,” he said. “Vericut can automatically create videos and electronic reports of the machining process, which can be easily viewed by others outside the manufacturing department.” In the latest Vericut 7.2, CGTech has continued to
improve Vericut’s ease of use and to improve the simula- tion process effectiveness, he said. The latest iteration adds features that simplify the most common user actions, Hasenjaeger said, and the company has invested signifi- cant developer hours to increase speed by more thoroughly taking advantage of multiple processors and background processing. Another new feature is the ability to optimize NC programs from a saved simulation, he said. “Users can adjust and re-optimize without rerunning the simulation, and a new interactive panel displays cutting conditions immedi- ately, anywhere in the machining process.” ME
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