The part process from CAD to machining will never be a “one-click process,” Joshi says. The vendor’s tool opens the way toward making CAM ubiquitous on engineers’ desktops, much as 3D CAD is now more-or-less used across an industry that once relied on 2D drawings, he said.
#CAMWORKS VS FEATURE CAM SOFTWARE#
If SolidWorks 2018 engineers and designers feel they’re working within one integrated system–rather than two separate but connected software systems-they might begin to automatically use CAM and to consistently consider manufacturability as they design the product, he adds. Toolpaths are automatically updated based on changes to the model. It supports feature recognition and can generate machining operations directly from native SolidWorks files or from imported data.
The solution is fully integrated with SolidWorks so users need not leave the familiar SolidWorks environment, says Mike Buchli, senior SolidWorks product and portfolio manager. That could make CAM easier and more straightforward to the software’s users.
And CAM features are integrated into the Fusion 360 design tool from Autodesk.īut rather than taking on two separate software solutions, CAD and CAM can act as one system within SolidWorks CAM, Joshi says. NX CAM, also from Siemens PLM Software, is integrated with other NX solutions, which allows NC programmers and manufacturing engineers to associatively access design, assembly and drafting tools in a one part-manufacturing environment, according to that software maker. Siemens PLM Software, for example, also offers CAMWorks as an embedded solution within its Solid Edge CAD program. Of course other CAD vendors offer integrated CAD and CAM solutions. Before the October release, CAMWorks, from HCL Technologies, was one of many third-party CAM tools available for integration with the vendor’s CAD program. SolidWorks CAM is “powered by” CAMWorks, in the vendor’s parlance. The SolidWorks 2018 release marks the first time that SolidWorks is providing the CAM product as part of its design solution. The SolidWorks offering could ramp up the number of CAM users by making the tool available to more engineers and designers, Joshi says. Previously, he spent six years on the SolidWorks research and development team. Joshi is chief executive officer at the CAD outsourcing firm Indovance.
This SolidWorks tool could close that disconnect.” “With integrated CAM, they’re not as disconnected as that, but there’s still a disconnect.
#CAMWORKS VS FEATURE CAM HOW TO#
“The general idea has been that engineers design something and then the manufacturing people eventually figure out how to manufacture it,” says Sandesh Joshi. SolidWorks CAM could create codes for the end machine used for manufacturing. Without CAM, manufacturers use the CAD design to program the tools themselves. And not all those who design in CAD enter design features into CAM to control the machine tools. Without CAM, manufacturers can be on their own when programming machines to make the CAD model. Engineers and designers who use CAM can evaluate designs earlier in the design process to ensure they can be manufactured, thus avoiding product costs and delays. It’s no secret that engineers struggle to create designs that are easy to manufacture while machinists complain about receiving unworkable CAD models.ĬAM software uses the CAD models to generate the toolpaths that drive computer numerically controlled manufacturing machines. Yet, the announcement of SolidWorks CAM, released in October as a SolidWorks 2018 add-on, has created a small buzz in engineering technology circles. When the engineering software vendor announced it was moving from integrated CAM to a total CAD/CAM solution industry watchers took note.įor engineers and design companies, it’s not difficult to find integrated computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing technologies.