Delcam to show latest FeatureCAM and more at Houstex

Delcam will demonstrate the latest version of its FeatureCAM software for feature-based programming of mills, lathes, wire and turn-mill on Booth 1221 at Houstex 2011 to be held in Houston from 18th to 20th April. Other Delcam products on show will include PowerMILL, the industry-leading CAM system for high-speed and five-axis machining, PowerSHAPE, the preeminent 3D design tool for manufacture on the market today, and Delcam for SolidWorks, Delcam’s integrated CAM system for SolidWorks ®.

The 2011 FeatureCAM release incorporates support for 64-bit computers, improved data exchange from a wider range of design software, the ability to use stock models and new strategies across the complete program, from turning to five-axis machining. It also features a more modern interface to make programming easier than ever.

All these developments will ensure that FeatureCAM retains the leadership in programming speed and ease of use it has held since its launch in 1995, when it was the world’s first feature-based programming system. Further, details on the new release, plus the option to download a trial version, can be found on the FeatureCAM 2011 learning zone at www.delcam.tv/fc2011/lz.

"Since joining Delcam, the functionality, capability and power of the FeatureCAM suite of products has grown massively by taking advantage of Delcam’s extensive development resources,” claimed Blaine Duke, Delcam Sales Account Representative for the South Central United States. "Multi-axis milling functionality and the ability to repair poor-quality CAD models from a wide range of design software that has taken Delcam many, many man years to develop and perfect has been added to FeatureCAM at a rapid pace and reduced cost, which provides a major benefit to the product’s end users.”

"Many long-standing FeatureCAM customers have been able to simplify the programming of complex parts even further with FeatureCAM 2011,” added Mr. Duke. One example is Moores Machine Shop of Lafayette, Louisiana. The change to FeatureCAM came after the company purchased a Mazak VNC510C four-axis machining center to try and grow its business by producing more intricate parts with complex 3D contours.

"With FeatureCAM and the four-axis machine, we were able to reduce the time required for programming a complex job from 20 to 10 hours and the time required for machining from 100 hours to 60 hours, for a total time savings of 50 hours,” explained Jerry Bunker, CNC Department Manager at Moores.