Modern Machine Shop

JAN 2018

Modern Machine Shop is focused on all aspects of metalworking technology - Providing the new product technologies; process solutions; supplier listings; business management; networking; and event information that companies need to be competitive.

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MMS JANUARY 2018 102 mmsonline.com BETTER PRODUCTION Shops Using Technology numbers was a challenge, so I bought a high-end HMC, which gave us a lot more f lexibility." The ability to set up multiple jobs on different tombstones or even different faces of the same tombstone seemed like a home run for Wolcott's three-man team, but the HMC's price tag gave Mr. Wolcott runs every program through Vericut as a cost-saving measure. Mr. Wolcott pause. A simple mistake on this machine could cost tens of thousands of dollars, and a major crash could cost more than one of his VMCs—that's without calculating the cost of downtime, he says. "I needed peace of mind. I had to make sure that would never happen." This is when CGTech's Vericut stepped up to the plate. Mr. Wolcott had used a competing brand of toolpath simulation software on his verticals, but that system ran foul. With a much more expensive machine at stake, he invested in Vericut software and gradually realized that its benefits went beyond avoiding accidents. "When we implemented Vericut, the initial goal was just to avoid crashes," he says. "I saw it as an insur- ance policy on the more expensive machines." However, as his single HMC grew to three, one of which is part of a 12-pallet f lexible manufactur- ing system (FMS), the company unlocked more of the software's features, and its benefits grew considerably. All the HMCs are part of the same cell controller and all use Vericut. A typical project might run for a day or as long as a week, but it will run in paral- lel with several other projects, Mr. Wolcott says. Grooving • Turning • Boring • Threading • Parting Profiling • Form Tooling • Special Tooling • Face Grooving With over a million standard tools, we've got the "ings" covered. INTERNAL GROOVING INTERNAL FACE GROOVING INTERNAL THREADING EXTERNAL GROOVING EXTERNAL FACE GROOVING EXTERNAL THREADING

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