Bridging the Skills Gap: 5 Advantages of CAM Systems

It’s no secret that skilled labor is challenging to find these days. With a new wave of talent entering the workforce, shops are often forced to shift job duties to maximize productivity. If time and money is spent on a highly skilled machininst to develop a program on an idle CNC machine, talent utilization is not maximized.

By using a CAM system, shops can make other, proven parts on a CNC machine using a less experienced machinist/operator, while the more highly skilled machinist is programming the next job at a computer. Using CAM systems, the total output will increase and the number of machine crashes will decrease, and the probability of producing quality parts will be much higher.

Using systems such as Esprit, GibbsCAM, and MasterCAM can provide 5 notable advantages:

• Programming is performed faster and more accurately because the operator is able to focus their attention on programming without being concerned with crashes.
• The completed program can be executed and simulated on a computer. This allows for quicker modifications and enhancements before actually making the part on the CNC machine, which will reduce set up time and decrease scrap.
• Simulation at the computer allows collisions to be detected between the CNC machine and the part and workholding in a virtual situation versus actual machining. Vitrual collisions won’t damage the machine and will allow for more production time and less time spent on maintenance and repairs.
• CAM systems enable toolpath improvements and machining sequences to be fine-tuned before the machining actually starts. This ensures the actual machining time is equal to, or less than, what was quoted to the customer.

These advantages allow the operator to focus their efforts on making quality parts without focusing on programming. For more information on our CAM Partners, visit www.okuma.com/partners.