WorkNC Customer Appreciation Events mark 20 years in North America

Sescoi is running a series of Customer Appreciation Events for users of its world beating WorkNC CADCAM software to celebrate 20 years of business in North America and to roll out the benefits of WorkNC V21, the latest version of its software. Starting on 30th November in Akron, Ohio and ending on 8th December in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the events will give WorkNC users an opportunity to see the advances in the software, provide valuable feedback about their experiences and to network with other professionals within the CADCAM and machining industry at a venue convenient to them.

Highly prestigious customers including General Motors, Chrysler and Ford, and major tool and die manufacturers such as Patterson Mold and Tool, Walker Tool & Die and Prospect Mold are WorkNC fans. Some of these companies have been using the software since the 1980s, which demonstrates how it has developed over the years to continually provide the very best in CNC programming and machining, productivity and service. By developing such a loyal client base, Sescoi finds that new customers are introduced to WorkNC by recommendation resulting in very high satisfaction levels for its users.

Additional technical and commercial staff has recently joined Sescoi to cope with increased demand, so the events will also provide an opportunity to meet the new members of the team.

The five events are sure to be a sell out as Sescoi’s users are always keen to hear about the latest advances which, for V21, include parallel processing, which according to internet forums postings is “the fastest WorkNC ever”. Other new features include optimized 5-axis toolpaths, new flat surface roughing algorithms, and new continuous finishing toolpaths.

Bruno Marko president of Sescoi says, “The last 20 years has been extremely successful for Sescoi in the North American market. Our prestigious and loyal customer base speaks for itself. The success is due to the hard work and dedication of our staff and our distribution network. They have continually gone the extra mile to deliver excellence, which is a great foundation for another 20 years of growth.”

WorkNC wins CADCAM innovation award in China

Sescoi has announced that it has won the 2011 metal processing industry - Ringier Technology Innovation Award – CADCAM Software, at the recent China International Industry Fair in Shanghai with its WorkNC CADCAM software.

Organized by Ringier Trade Publishing Ltd, the competition is in its sixth year and is judged by a panel of experts from industry associations and research institutions within the metal cutting industry, and is supplemented by internet voting from users of the nominated products, making this a very prestigious and hotly contended award, noted for its neutrality and which prides itself on selecting winners solely on merit.

More than 100 industry leaders gathered at the award ceremony to congratulate the 36 winners in the nine categories of the competition.
WorkNC was selected for its automated programming which makes the system uniquely easy to use. It produces intelligent toolpaths which reduce machining times, extend tool life and improve the quality and surface finish of the completed part and, is able to drive CNC machines up to and including those capable of full 5-axis simultaneous cutting.

WorkNC is widely used in the automotive industry and is used by more than 80% of OEMs including BMW, Audi, Jaguar Landrover and Bentley. In China it is already used by leading companies such as Yutong Bus and SSDT- SIAC. Yutong Bus is the country’s largest bus manufacturer and one of its top 500 enterprises, while SIAC produces over 3.5 million cars annually.
WorkNC is also prominent in other industries including aerospace, consumer electronics, sport and leisure goods, and medical and dental where it is used by companies such as Eurocopter, Aerospatiale, Toshiba, Rowenta, Playmobil and Biotech.

Bruno Marko, President of Sescoi International said, “We are very proud to receive this award, which is recognition of the quality of the technology we deliver to our customers. It will be a further boost for our business in China where WorkNC is being adopted by an increasingly large number of leading manufacturers.”

Automated CADCAM and advanced ERP from Sescoi at EuroMold

Sescoi will be demonstrating the latest versions of its suite of manufacturing productivity software, and previewing 2012 developments, at the upcoming EuroMold show in Frankfurt.

WorkNC CADCAM, WorkNC Dental CADCAM, the WorkXPlore 3D high-speed collaborative CAD viewer, and WorkPLAN ERP will all be demonstrated in Hall 8 on booth F22 where Sescoi is co-located with partner, Ingersoll Cutting Tools. Visitors will also be able to see live cutting on Deckel Maho, Datron and Roland CNC machines.

The latest version of WorkNC incorporates 64 bit and multi-threading technology shortening calculation and processing speeds by up to 10 times by transforming program preparation times - especially important for large complex components.

EuroMold will be an opportunity for visitors to preview all major new WorkNC functionalities and enhancements. The previous twelve WorkNC 5-axis machining routines have been rationalized down to six new, powerful strategies, further simplifying the programming task. For even easier 5-axis programming, engineers can use the improved WorkNC’s Auto 5 module. This automatically creates 5-axis paths from 3-axis moves while considering the capabilities of the machine tool and the physical characteristics of the setup.

Also previewing at the show will be the advances in WorkNC feature recognition which will make it possible to machine holes and pockets completely automatically directly from CAD data.

EuroMold visitors will also get a chance to hear about the new WorkNC Laser hardening, welding, trimming and polishing applications first announced at EMO, as well as the new WorkNC Machine Limit Management, and the advanced WorkNC Stamping functionality, with its powerful flat surface machining algorithms.

Live machining of a highly complex V6 engine block on a Deckel Maho HSC 55 Linear will illustrate the power of WorkNC.

Version 3, the major new version, of Sescoi’s award winning, high-speed, collaborative 3D viewer, WorkXPlore 3D, will make its debut at EuroMold. Scheduled for release at the beginning of 2012, this new version makes use of B-rep structures which significantly improve accuracy. This will be particularly valuable for determining precise model information such as volume and draft angle or for detecting edges. As well as being able to read in and interpret model data from many different CAD systems, the new version will also have the ability to open multiple sessions simultaneously, further adding to the system’s flexibility and ease of use.

WorkNC Dental provides dental professionals with the ability to automatically machine implants bridges and crowns directly from scanned data. Incorporated into the system are the intelligence, technology and flexibility to cut prostheses in virtually every dental material on any machine tool giving the user a truly open and affordable dental CADCAM system. Live machining on both Roland and Datron CNC machines will show the capabilities and speed of the system and how easy it is to implement in a dental laboratory.

WorkPLAN Solutions ERP software has been designed for project orientated manufacturers and meets the exact requirements of mold and tool makers. Version 4 of the software includes the new customer CRM module that centralizes all sales activities making it easy for users to manage sales opportunities, prospects, contacts, quotations and sales orders, as well as to run personalized email and mail marketing campaigns.

As part of the Euromold programme of lectures, Sescoi will be conducting a presentation on CNC machining efficiency with a focus on automatic machine collision avoidance.

Sescoi to bring its automotive experts to Indian WorkNC road shows

During November, Sescoi will be holding two WorkNC CADCAM road shows, in Pune and Chennai in India. Focused on the application of its software in the automotive industry, at these road shows delegates will be able to learn how OEMs and suppliers using WorkNC’s advanced 2 to 5 axis CNC programming technology are achieving remarkable improvements in efficiency and productivity.

WorkNC has been adopted by the majority of leading automotive OEMs and their suppliers for many years. These include BMW, Audi, Volkswagen, Rolls Royce, Bentley, Jaguar Land Rover, Mercedes Benz, Peugeot, Renault, Citroen, Ford and General Motors.

To give Indian engineers insight into state-of-the-art CADCAM and the advantages of WorkNC within the automotive supply chain, Sescoi is bringing two of its leading experts in the field to the events. Werner Moeller, General Manager of Sescoi Germany, and Robert Endl, Head of WorkNC CAM R&D in Germany between them have over 40 years of experience in the application of CAM software in this specialized industry. Through a series of presentations, including case studies, Indian engineers will hear about German automotive OEMs best practice and future developments in WorkNC.

Sescoi’s engineers will also be demonstrating the WorkNC Laser hardening, welding, trimming and polishing applications, WorkNC’s new Machine Limit Management, and offering a preview of the all new WorkNC Stamping functionalities–easy to use, high performance, flat surface roughing and finishing specifically for press tools.

The roadshows will also be the first showing in India of WorkNC V21, the latest multi-threading, 64 bit version of WorkNC, which transforms programming speed, by a factor of up to 10 times on some parts.

WorkXPlore 3D, powerful CAD viewing software - now in ten languages

WorkXPlore 3D, Sescoi’s award winning high-speed CAD viewing, mark-up, and analysis software is now available in Chinese and Korean. The software is already available in another eight languages - English, French, Spanish, German, Japanese, Italian, Portuguese and Czech bringing the new total of localized versions of the software to ten.

Trial and free versions of the software, which have already been downloaded by thousands of engineers, are available from the www.workxplore-3d.com website. The website, which is available in seven languages, includes free tutorials so that users can take a step-by-step tour of WorkXPlore 3D, making learning how to use the intuitive interface and getting the best from the system very easy indeed.

Affordably priced commercial and free versions of the software make it economical for companies of all sizes to share designs around the company, its suppliers and its supply chain. Well known names such as Volkswagen and All Nippon Airways have already implemented WorkXPlore 3D to enhance the efficiency of their 3D file management.

The software can import 3D models from a wide range of popular CAD systems including CATIATM, SolidworksTM, ParasolidTM, , UnigraphicsTM and Pro/EngTM as well as neutral file formats such as IGES, STEP and STL. Measuring, analysis and annotation tools allow engineers to carry out a thorough investigation of the design including checking features such as dimensions, collisions and draft angles. Additionally, those involved in the design process can add comments and notes, and create views and exploded assemblies. WorkXPlore 3D can import even very large models at high-speed, while its own lightweight file format makes it easy to share the data across the Internet.

Sescoi has designed WorkXPlore 3D to make collaborative and concurrent working an affordable reality. By sharing data with many more people than is normally possible, designs can be optimized far more quickly and potential problems detected sooner. With ten languages available and version 3 of the software, which includes some major enhancements, due for release at the end of 2011, WorkXPlore 3D is truly a global solution for companies that want to get high quality products to market faster.

Sescoi U.S.A., Inc. APPOINTS Bill Benda as WorkNC CADCAM Dental Account Representative

Sescoi U.S.A., Inc. has announced the appointment of Bill Benda as WorkNC CADCAM Dental Account Representative in the Illinois, Wisconsin and surrounding areas.

Bill brings over 10 years dental sales experience working with leading dental implant, CAD and solutions companies Straumann USA and Nobel Biocare. Bill’s extensive experience with dental implants allows him to work closely with dental labs that are transitioning into implantology and manufacturing bars as well as regular copings and bridges. Bill is located in the greater Chicago area to service local dental labs better.

The WorkNC Dental open dental CADCAM system is an easy to use solution for dental laboratories that fully automates the machining of prosthetic implants and completely manages the production process.

Shandong Weifang Foton Mould Co. Ltd. reduces manufacturing times by 30% with WorkNC CADCAM

Shandong Weifang Foton Mould Co. Ltd. is China’s largest manufacturer of molds for automotive body parts such as doors, roofs and side panels. As well as mold manufacture, the company has mold design capability and reverse engineering and digitizing facilities to produce parts from the clay mock up. Its customers include the largest vehicle manufacturers in China such as Dongfeng Automobile, Tianqi Motor, Yantai Automobile, Beijing Jeep and Shanghai GM. The introduction of WorkNC CADCAM software in 2007 was a major step forward for the company and has helped it to cement relationships with its customers through higher quality and faster delivery.

Problems with previous CAM system

Foton Mould Co. selected the WorkNC CADCAM system after experiencing significant quality problems with its previous CAM system. Mr. Liu of the company explains, “With our old CAM system we were experiencing ripples and stripes on the finish machined surface. Many of our panels have very large radii as part of the styling and the old software was not accurate enough to reproduce these properly. We tried numerous solutions, and put in a lot of manpower and effort, but nothing worked, resulting in us having to hand finish tools to achieve a satisfactory result. This was time consuming, expensive and inaccurate.”
CAM accuracy and mold quality

Mr Liu heard about WorkNC’s success in China and invited local WorkNC engineers to come and evaluate the difficulties Foton Mould Co. was experiencing. He says, “We used WorkNC’s machining strategies for roughing and finishing and the result was remarkable. Using the same parameters as we had before, the software solved our problems easily, producing smooth curves without any ripples or stripes. Additionally, it produced a much brighter and higher quality surface finish straight off the machine.”
WorkNC achieves this through very high accuracy interpolation of 3D forms, generating copious amounts of NC data and keeping well within the surface tolerance. The software also considers the volume of material to be removed at every stage of cutting, resulting in a constant tool load, which minimizes any problems due to deflection of the machine or its cutters. Fine detail can easily be generated through picking out operations which blend perfectly with surrounding surfaces, virtually eliminating polishing operations on the finished cavity. Powerful handling of CAD files and digitized data ensures the finished part conforms to the original design, resulting in improved quality for the body panels produced in the company’s molds.
Speed and efficiency

The demands of automotive manufacturers have become increasingly sophisticated, which led Foton Mould Co. to carefully examine and review its production methods. Added to this, raw material costs have gone up considerably so, to achieve an overall cost reduction, the pressure on it to improve productivity was immense. Making full and appropriate use of its WorkNC CAM software has provided some very significant advantages. Program preparation times are much faster, thanks to the automated strategies and high speed calculations in the software, while WorkNC’s optimized toolpaths result in shorter cutting times, longer tool life and reduced labor costs. Overall, it makes much more efficient use of both human and machinery resources.

Mr Liu explains, “Before we had WorkNC an ordinary small mold would take around a week to complete. With WorkNC, we can do the same task in 2-3 days. For us, WorkNC’s automated CNC toolpaths and high speed calculations are its most important features and have produced a 30% reduction in our overall mold manufacturing times. We have run many tests and evaluations to optimize how we use the software and we have absolute confidence in the stability, repeatability and accuracy of our CNC programs and the molds we produce from them. Now we use WorkNC for nearly every mold we manufacture.”

Sescoi provides additional CADCAM support to its OEM partners in the U.S.

Sescoi USA, Inc has announced the appointment of Robert O'Connor as Regional OEM Account Manager for the Chicago area. Robert has extensive experience in the sales and support of 3D solid modeling, CADCAM and ERP solutions, and machine tool sales. His knowledge encompasses the automotive, aerospace, medical and tooling industries.

Robert will be working directly with OEM machine tool manufacturers and tooling partners, providing them with valuable support and product information to enable customers a more comprehensive solutions experience. In particular, he will be demonstrating to OEMs how the latest multi-threading, 64 bit, WorkNC Version 21 will transform programming and machining speed and efficiency on all machine tools, using all cutting tools.

Commenting on Robert’s appointment, Bruno Marko, President of Sescoi International and Sescoi USA, Inc, said “We are delighted with our year-to-date sales results in the U.S. and we will continue to invest in growing our business in this important market. The appointment of Robert will enable us to work even closer and more effectively with OEM partners in the U.S.A.”

High productivity for Japanese mold manufacturers demonstrated at WorkNC CADCAM and Hitachi joint seminar

Sescoi and Hitachi Tool Engineering welcomed representatives from 30 local manufacturers to a joint seminar at the Makuhari Polytechnic in Chiba, Japan on 14th September, to learn about the latest developments in Sescoi’s WorkNC automated CADCAM software, and the newest Hitachi cutting tools for high productivity mold manufacture.

On display were a range of components including a crankshaft tool, programmed in WorkNC and machined using Hitachi tools.

Mr Sakamoto from Hitachi welcomed the visitors and explained the benefits of the company’s Epoch Deep Evolution series of tools. The advanced design provides a high strength flute shape which features a stronger R flute helix angle and a shorter neck range for increased chip removal rates, improved stability and tip strength, and a greater resistance to deflection and breakage.

Sescoi went on to explain the programming of the crankshaft tool using the automated software tools in WorkNC CADCAM while demonstrating the technical advances and productivity enhancements included in the latest WorkNC V21. These include optimized time calculations for roughing and semi-finishing toolpaths, new flat surface finishing with automatic creation of multiple toolpaths, a new Continuous Finishing toolpath and powerful new toolpath editing functions. The seminar attendees could also see how parallel processing could reduce programming times by a factor of up to ten by making use of the latest multiple core processors.

As well as the presentations, Hitachi and Sescoi prepared a live cutting demonstration so that the visitors could see for themselves the performance of the cutters and toolpaths. For mold manufacture, especially when cutting hard materials, the ability to keep tool loads low and constant is vital for long tool life and high metal removal rates. Engineers attending the seminar commented that the live demonstration was particularly interesting as it clearly helped them to understand the advantages of high performance CADCAM.

By combining the latest developments in Hitachi cutting tools, designed for rigidity and high metal removal rates, with advanced WorkNC CADCAM, mold manufacturers can achieve improved productivity and cost savings.

US Precision Mold revolutionizes its job management with the perfect solution from WorkPLAN (SESCOI)

Installing the MyWorkPLAN job management solution from the WorkPLAN range of ERP software solutions from Sescoi, was a monumental step forward for US Precision Mold. Based in Arvada,Colorado. The company employs 13 people and specializes in molds for plastics, rubber, die cast and metal injection, producing new tooling as well as offering a repair and refurbishment service for existing molds.

Darryl Lawrence, one of the co-owners of US Precision Mold, is responsible for preparing quotations and specifying the design of tools. When the company started, it used Microsoft ProjectTM and ExcelTM, together with other software packages, to manage its office based systems, but as the company grew he realized that this was a very inefficient way of working. “ With our old systems we had to enter the data for each job at least four times, which is wasted effort and a potential source of errors. Furthermore, we carry out a lot of service work, which generates a good deal of paperwork, and we were getting to the stage when we would have had to hire someone just to keep up.”.

Darryl Lawrence had some experience of job management systems and found the WorkPLAN site via Google. He looked at several systems but was impressed by Sescoi’s knowledge of the moldmaking industry, the world renown of its WorkNC CADCAM software and the stability of the company. “ Other software providers had little knowledge of our industry but said they could alter their systems to suit us. MyWorkPLAN, on the other hand, was designed for our environment which was a big plus for us. Additionally, the cost verses benefit was very attractive, as what you get for the money is pretty good stuff!”.

US Precision Mold now takes for granted the flexible architecture in MyWorkPLAN. Darryl Lawrence says, “ The software is very powerful for a small prototype environment. We can add as much or as little detail as we want, as the software assumes we know what we are doing. Other software forces you to do things a certain way which slows up the administration, leaving you with a very expensive drain on resources which actually slows up management processes.” He continues, “ The reality is that, as a small company, there are a lot of things we should do which we don’t. With MyWorkPLAN there are templates for all these things already in the software. With this subtle approach we can look critically at the way in which we work and implement extra methodology when it suits us.”

The company has five user licenses of MyWorkPLAN located on PCs around its offices and workshop. It uses these for logging on and off tasks and for staff to clock in and out, enabling real time tracking of what is happening on the shop floor, managing time and attendance, and payroll, which can be completed in 45 minutes.

Darryl Lawrence says, “ We use the software to drill down through the data to produce accurate quotations for our customers, control costs and manage shop loading and planning. Scheduling is a continuous and dynamic process, and MyWorkPLAN presents the information as a Gantt chart. We can place all our operations, look at the load and manipulate it until it looks right. We can’t plan much more than two weeks ahead anyway, as jobs and tasks are continually changing. The software lets us work in the way which suits us best, using our skills to get the load realistic by making changes such as adding time, moving operations or subcontracting.” Now US Precision Mold can respond to customer’s questions about the status of their jobs quickly and accurately. All bought in items have a specified delivery date, and it is easy to find out how far manufacture has progressed by just making an enquiry on MyWorkPLAN.

Darryl makes maximum use of Sescoi’s support, helping him to create customized reports so that he can extract a summary of just the information he wants. “ I just make a phone call to Sescoi, and a week later I have my new report, which might be a summary of people and hours for each job, for example. In my view you are not going to get better support anywhere, period. The beauty of the software is that it is easy to use and it works - no bugs - you never have to worry about it crashing or doing something odd. If there is an error I can guarantee it is me that has made the mistake.”

He concludes, “ MyWorkPLAN is a monumental step forward for us. You can’t afford to hire more people nowadays and the cost verses benefit it produces is a no brainer. It has made our life so much better and is a vital part of our business. Nobody wants to go back to the old methods. In my opinion we couldn’t have made a better choice and it is silliness not to invest in the technology.”

WorkNC Dental Implantology and Automation live in Lyon and Rome

Sescoi will be exhibiting its automatic WorkNC Dental CADCAM software at two major European dental exhibitions, in collaboration with Willemin Macodel CNC machines, at ARIA CAD-CAM Dentaire in Lyon, France 23-24th September and International Expodental 6-8th October in Rome, pavilion 7, stands B30+C29.

At both shows, Sescoi dental engineers will be demonstrating the latest developments in the WorkNC Dental open Implantology and Automation Modules. With the Implantology Module, WorkNC Dental can acquire the 3D orientation and location of each implant, and the digitized geometry of bridges and crowns from a range of scanners and dental CAD systems, allowing dental professionals to choose the most appropriate equipment for their laboratory. It then automatically generates CNC cutterpaths tailored to suit the individual machine tool and prosthetic material, making it easy for dental technicians to produce highly accurate prostheses without specialist CNC machining experience. The Automation Module goes a stage further and manages the whole production process, controlling the job loading and unloading, selecting which machine to use, automatic starting and stopping of machining operations, and error reporting.

Visitors to the two shows will be able to see live cutting on a Willemin Macodel 408B machining center. Dental laboratories will be able to evaluate how easy it is to produce bridges and crowns for implants and machine them from bars, discs, blanks or plates in a wide range of materials such as zirconia, titanium, cobalt chrome, PPMA and lithium disilicate, using this combination of machine and software to optimize the process. The WorkNC Dental Automation Module will be used to queue jobs for production, transfer the program to the machine control, operate the bar feeder, and start and stop machining operations, allowing technicians to spend more time on their core skills rather than on managing the manufacturing process.

Sescoi’s open dental CADCAM system is able to offer an integrated solution to dental laboratories which fully automates the machining of prosthetic implants from bar and completely manages the production process. The pairing of machine and software delivers valuable productivity enhancements coupled with high levels of flexibility, which will enable an innovative approach to dentistry that benefits the industry and patient alike.

WorkNC CAD CAM software used to produce BIW panels for SAIC, China

Shanghai Superior Die Technology Co. Ltd (SSDT) based in Shanghai, China is part of SAIC, one of China’s largest car manufacturers. The company uses Sescoi’s WorkNC automatic CAD CAM software to manufacture molds and dies for body-in-white (BIW) panels for its parent company. Owning the MG Rover brand and having joint ventures with Volkswagen and General Motors in China, SAIC produced 3.58 million vehicles during 2010. SSDT has a turnover of 1 billion Yuan, employs 850 people and produces 450,000 sets of BIW panels for SAIC annually.

$126 million of investment at SSDT has allowed it to install the very best technology. As well as WorkNC CAD CAM, the company has installed other high level software packages such as UG, CATIA, Pam-Stamp, AutoForm, and SAP, giving it considerable design, manufacturing and production control capability. Additionally, the company has invested in several Makino CNC machines, large mechanical presses and a 2500 ton molding machine to give it the ability to offer its expertise in the design, development and sampling of BIW panels.

According to Kai Chun, General Manager of SSDT, “ Our company is committed to leaner production management methods, improved quality, higher safety standards and has a people-oriented management philosophy, aimed at improving customer satisfaction and promoting innovation”.

WorkNC was first installed at SSDT in 2007 after an extensive evaluation of the CAD CAM systems available in China, and was selected for its ease of use and powerful toolpaths. Since then the software has become the principal CAD CAM package in use at the company. WorkNC is used to produce molds and dies for large panels such as car doors, hoods, trunk lids and interior floors.

WorkNC’s high speed calculation capability has created a considerable advantage for SSDT enabling it to achieve significant efficiency improvements in program creation, greatly shortening lead times. Furthermore, the software’s ability to float across multiple platforms, carry out calculations in batch mode overnight, and start a new program while calculation continues in the background, has had a big impact on productivity at SSDT. The new capabilities for parallel processing in the latest version of WorkNC CAD CAM will further enhance the speed of program preparation, cutting some calculation processes by a factor of ten. This is particularly important for the very large tools produced by SSDT where short programming times for the long toolpaths required have a big impact on cost.

Technologically advanced roughing and finishing toolpaths in WorkNC enable SSDT to achieve high metal removal rates by eliminating wasted movement, and keeping a steady load on the tool. This allows the company to run its machine and tooling combinations at maximum efficiency, extending tool life, and optimizing metal removal rates and finished part quality.

SSDT won the ‘ Best Supplier Award’ for the third consecutive year at the Shanghai GM supplier conference in January 2011, and it recognizes that the adoption of WorkNC has played a major role in its success. The company aims to supply first class products by providing its customers with a first class sheet metal forming and mold manufacturing facility offering technology at a competitive price. It views Sescoi, with its WorkNC CAD CAM, as a strategic supplier and understands the benefits it gets from the innovative developments in the software which keep it at the forefront of technology.

Sescoi and Agie Charmilles work in partnership in India

Sescoi, with its WorkNC automatic CADCAM software, partnered Agie Charmilles in its first ever Open House for Mikron 3 and 5-axis machining centers in Bangalore, India. At the two day event, which included a networking dinner, the companies welcomed 150 engineers from 60 companies including Amritha Tool Craft, Tyco, Avasarala Technologies, Titan, ASB, BEL, Mahindra Aerostructures, Jindal Aluminium Ltd., Hampson, Shakti Precision Components, TVS SFL, and Indo-US Mimtec PVT Ltd.

Visitors were received in the Technical Center by Antoine Coletta from Agie Charmilles and were able to see live machining on Mikron machines of three different parts, all programmed with WorkNC. Particularly impressive for the attendees was the machining of a connecting rod cavity in 45HRC H13 material in just two hours. This made use of WorkNC’s trochoidal roughing strategies, cutting 10mm deep in one pass with a 10 x 1 mm end mill operating at 4,500 rpm and 3,000 mm/min. The trochoidal machining technology in WorkNC controls tool load, increasing both material removal rates and tool life, without compromising on surface finish. A further two re-roughing operations were followed by three finishing operations, ending with a 3mm ball operating at 14,000 rpm, to produce a mirror quality surface.

Visitors were also impressed with the high quality finish produced on an ear piece cavity for the Indian company ALPS. Again, machined on a Mikron machine and programmed with WorkNC, the completed tool demonstrated that the manual polishing, which ALPS previously needed to do, was now completely unnecessary.

Kaushik Bhattacharya, Country Manager and Vijay Bhaskar, Senior Application Engineer for Agie Charmille India, praised the quality of the toolpaths created in WorkNC and the support they received from the Sescoi India office.

Sescoi’s Murali Krishna Yedida was delighted with the event. “We are very happy to be working with Agie Charmilles in India and look forward to supporting it in further machining trials for its customers. The quality of the demonstrations during the Open House show that WorkNC’s advanced technology can transform quality and productivity for Indian manufacturers.”

Sescoi productivity software an integral part of SolidWorks® and IMTMA seminars in India

SolidWorks® reseller, 3D Works Design Solutions, one of Sescoi’s Indian distributors for its WorkNC automatic CAD CAM software, recently held a seminar in Ludhiana, Northern India focusing on productivity improvements made possible by the latest version of WorkNC (V21) and SolidWorks®.

The large number of seminar participants demonstrates the fast growing popularity of the WorkNC CAD CAM system in India, where it is used by companies such as Bharat Forge, the second largest forging company in the world and part of the $1.2 billion Kalyani Group, and Sermo ARRK India, part of the €1.8 billion ARRK Group.

Sescoi is building a close relationship with the SolidWorks® channel in India, and has presented WorkNC at a series of SolidWorks® innovation days earlier in the year. The distribution of WorkNC through SolidWorks® resellers enables Indian companies to benefit from complementary, best-of-breed CNC software that offers advanced design tools and automated CAM, giving them a clear competitive advantage.

The upcoming release of WorkNC V21 in India will further cement the partnership as the new version includes 64bit, parallel processing technology which gives users up to tenfold speed improvements in toolpath generation and calculation.

Sescoi continues to build on its collaboration with the Indian Machine Tool Manufacturers’ Association (IMTMA) through a second series of Die Mold seminars and by supporting the Association’s ‘Digital Factory’ located on the Bangalore International Exhibition Complex. As well as WorkNC, the company has installed its WorkPLAN ERP and job shop software at the Complex, enabling visitors to see first-hand how the complete production process from quotation to invoice can be optimized, through real time data acquisition.

The Sescoi-IMTMA Die Mold seminars ran in Pune, Chennai and Delhi over the summer. Presentations of Sescoi’s WorkPLAN Solutions helped participants to understand the productivity and efficiency gains that can be produced by improved management of administrative tasks. Accurate quotations can help companies to win more business and deliver it at a profit. Production management ensures the workshop is operating at maximum efficiency and that products are delivered on time, while cost control monitors expenditure against targets. Indian companies are keen to learn about, and implement advanced technology, making the joint seminars between Sescoi and the IMTMA a valuable source of information.

Sescoi hosts a reception for Japanese MPs and a press conference in Tokyo

Bruno Marko, President of Sescoi International, the developer of the WorkNC CAD CAM software, hosted a small, private reception in Tokyo for Japanese Members of Parliament to help promote trade relations between France and Japan. Also present was Gerard Voisin, Vice President of the French government’s European Affairs Commission.

Later in the day, Sescoi held a press conference with partner companies Mori Seiki and Hitachi Tools. Sescoi’s WorkNC CAD CAM software is the No 1 software with Japanese moldmakers and used by all the Japanese automotive OEMs and their suppliers. Bruno Marko and Sescoi managers spoke about the historical success of WorkNC in the Japanese market, elaborated on the way in which Sescoi intends to work in partnership with its Japanese customers for future growth through manufacturing productivity gains, and introduced WorkNC’s developments for the dental and medical sectors. Data Design, Sescoi’s Japanese distributor, spoke about the benefits of the WorkNC Dental open CAD CAM system for Japanese dental laboratories and the relaunch of Sescoi’s WorkPLAN ERP solution for custom manufacturers in Japan.

Senior representatives from Mori Seiki and Hitachi Tools presented their companies’ activities in Japan and internationally, as well as their close collaboration with Sescoi.

During the conference, Bruno Marko expressed the sympathy of all Sescoi’s employees for the victims of the tsunami of 11th March 2011. All those attending also extended their condolences, marking it with a minute’s silence. Bruno Marko went on to make a donation to the Japanese Red Cross on behalf of Sescoi and its employees, which they hope, in a small way, will help to relieve suffering and promote regeneration.

WorkNC CAM software gives China’s biggest bus manufacturer a 20% speed advantage

The Yutong Bus Co in Zhengzhou China has dramatically cut its programming times with Sescoi’s WorkNC CAM software. Yutong Bus is one of China’s 500 top enterprises and has the capacity to manufacture 180 buses per day from its 1.12 million sq m industrial park. It can trace its roots back to 1963 and is now China’s biggest bus manufacturer, and in sales volume is second in the world to Mercedes-Benz. 2010 was marked by the 40,000th bus rolling off the production line, and in 2011 its new hybrid bus won the ‘Best New Energy Bus’ award at the Beijing International Exhibition for Buses, Trucks and Components.

The company focuses on providing a high quality vehicle while maximizing profitability and it has optimized its manufacturing processes with this in mind. Mr Chen, Manager of Yutong’s mold production facility realized that by introducing advanced CAM software he could raise the productivity of his CNC machinery, optimize the performance of the cutting tools and cut program preparation times, making the manufacture of highly accurate mold tools simpler and faster.

The company uses WorkNC to produce tooling for body panels, doors, and plastic injection molds for other bus components, and it continually monitors the performance of the software to ensure maximum productivity. Before the introduction of WorkNC, preparing and calculating the CNC toolpaths used to take up more than half of the production time, so the time savings produced by WorkNC not only greatly improved efficiency, but also significantly cut labor costs. Mr Chen says, “With WorkNC, the pressure on our CNC programming resources has been eliminated, thanks to its logical and automated programming steps. The software has saved us a considerable amount of time and gives us an opportunity to further optimize our manufacturing processes. When compared with other CAM software, we found that WorkNC’s calculation speed was on average 20% faster.”

Yutong Bus also discovered that the quality of WorkNC’s roughing and re-roughing toolpaths and dynamic stock model set it apart from other CAM systems available in the Chinese market. By updating the model as cutting progresses, the system automatically knows the exact location of excess material enabling it to minimize duplicated and wasted cutterpaths. The same applies to WorkNC’s finishing toolpaths which keep tool loading low and constant. Mr Chen says, “WorkNC has enabled us to improve the surface finish and quality of our molds. Not only is it fast, but it controls cutter loading with techniques such as climb milling and spiral feed movements. We are very satisfied with the machining and remachining strategies it produces, which reduce tool wear and breakage and shorten the overall machining times.”

The ease of use of WorkNC and its ergonomic interface has produced further benefits for Yutong Bus. Mr Chen adds, “With the other programming software we use, the training required is one or two months before our engineers are fully proficient. This is very expensive and involves a heavy investment in human resources. With WorkNC new employees can be trained to a high standard in just one or two weeks. This saves us a considerable amount of time and cost, enabling more people to use the system, greatly increasing the flexibility of our workforce.”

The company appreciates the intelligence built into WorkNC. High quality postprocessors, tool libraries and fast and efficient toolpaths have maximized the efficiency of the Yutong Bus’ CNC machinery. These improvements have added value to the company’s products and have helped it to offer its customers even better vehicles.

Sescoi enhances CNC knowledge of Chinese CAD CAM engineers at Chinese industry shows

Sescoi's booths at the recent Die and Mold China (DMC) exhibition in Shanghai and China International Machinery & Electronics show (CIME) in Ningbo attracted hundreds of visitors and helped to further increase the popularity of its WorkNC automatic CAD CAM software in China.

At the DMC exhibition, Sescoi’s engineers ran open presentations focusing on 5-axis and 3+2 axis CNC machining, providing an overview of WorkNC V21 and the efficiency improvements brought by the CAD CAM software’s easy to use, advanced toolpaths. The intricate Samurai helmet part, milled by a WorkNC customer in Japan, was on display to illustrate what can be achieved with WorkNC.

WorkNC Version 21 is scheduled for release around the globe from summer onwards, and the Chinese industry shows were another chance for local engineers to see the new version, in which 64 bit, parallel processing takes advantage of the latest multi-processor computers to produce calculation speed improvements of up to 70%.

Visitors to the Sescoi booths at the two shows were also able to see WorkNC-CAD HM, Sescoi’s own new hybrid modeler, along with the advanced Wire EDM and Electrode solutions. Sescoi engineers demonstrated WorkXPlore 3D, a high speed 3D CAD viewer which is generating strong interest in the automotive and airline industries for the viewing and sharing of design information.

Visitors to Sescoi’s booths were able to learn about advanced CNC machining techniques, manufacturing productivity and optimized product design management. Sescoi has already achieved a great deal of success in China with its advanced CADCAM products, and it believes that the recent exhibitions provided a stepping stone to even greater success in the Chinese market.

10 seminars across Japan introduce the country's engineers to WorkNC V21

Sescoi has just completed ten seminars in Japan as part of the release schedule for its latest WorkNC V21, the latest version of its automatic CAD CAM software. With events in Tokyo, Saitama, Hiroshima, Osaka, Aichi-Nagoya, Fukushima, Gunma, Niigata, Toyama and Shizuoka, the company welcomed 230 users from all over the country.

Partner companies, including Hermle agent - Aichi Sangyo, Mitsubishi Materials Corporation, Hitachi Tool Engineering, Mori Seiki and OSG Corporation presented their machine tools and tooling at each of the venues, and illustrated the benefits of integrating advanced CAM methodology within a manufacturing environment for faster cutting speeds, longer tool life and improved part quality.

At the Tokyo and Aichi-Nagoya seminars, Koichi Zama, Chief Engineer, Computer Integrated Systems Department from Honda R&D Co., Ltd. (Automobile R&D Center), a WorkNC user, gave a special lecture on current developments in the Japanese Automobile Manufacturers Association and the new manufacturing challenges at Honda.

Sescoi’s CAM engineers demonstrated the advances in WorkNC V21. 64 bit processing in the new version makes full use of the latest generation of multi-core computers, delivering speed improvements of up to 70% while giving the user full control of the number of processes to run simultaneously.

Automated flat surface machining recognizes flat surfaces and machines them in the most effective way, improving surface finish and reducing machining time, while adaptive roughing and semi-finishing algorithms reduce calculation times for these processes even more. New Continuous Finishing routines cut steep and shallow areas in one operation, minimizing retract movements, tool changes and duplicated cutterpaths to produce a smooth and even trajectory, which minimizes cutter load and reduces overall machining times.

A significant number of companies anticipated that they would be implementing 5-axis machining in the coming months. The advances in WorkNC V21 will make this even easier, with the simplification and rationalization of toolpaths from 12 down to six. WorkNC users said that they already appreciated the totally reliable holder collision checking and avoidance in WorkNC, and that they could see how important this would be when they make the move to 5-axis CNC machining in the future.

WorkNC has been the top CAD CAM system in Japan for toolmakers for many years, and has been used by skilled Japanese engineers to produce winning entries in CNC machining competitions. With engineers at the seminars agreeing that the new features in WorkNC V21 would improve their productivity even further, the software is set to maintain its dominant position in the country.

Sescoi U.S. contributes to a collaborative seminar on the real cost of manufacturing overseas

Sescoi, Agie Charmilles, SECO Tools and eXpert Tech have joined forces to host a seminar in Linconshire, Illinois, U.S.A., on 21st June, to promote the retention of more manufacturing in the USA, or ‘reshoring’. The seminar will also include productivity sessions which will help companies to cut costs, operate more efficiently and make reshoring a reality.

Harry Moser, the former President of Agie Charmilles and founder of the National Reshoring Initiative, will explain how you can make a case for local sourcing rather than outsourcing. During this event you will learn how manufacturing parts overseas can increase the total cost of ownership by up to 20%, through hidden costs. Other advantages of keeping production in the USA include easier regulatory compliance, enhanced innovation possibilities, reduced inventory delays for companies using JIT methodology, and the improved quality and consistency you can expect with locally made products.

From CADCAM, to training tooling and high speed machining, engineers from the participating companies will offer practical tips and an insight into efficient manufacturing methods which delegates can apply to their own businesses. Sescoi will explain the benefits of its WorkNC automated CADCAM software and how it can be used to produce safe, reliable, and smooth CNC code for 5-axis and high speed machining centers. eXpert Tech will describe the importance of its range of mold, die and machining courses to skill levels within the industry. SECO Tools will present its advanced high feed milling tools including the JabroTM and Minimaster® range, while Agie Charmilles will be describing the benefits of using its Mikron high-speed and ultra high-speed machining centres which can achieve feedrates of 80m/min and spindle speeds of 54,000 min-1.

Delegates will be able to see all the technology in action at the Agie Charmilles facility near the seminar hall. This will give them a clear and practical demonstration of how the principles explained during the sessions can be implemented in their own workshops.

By understanding the total cost of ownership of product manufacture, whether it be in the USA or overseas, and combining this with efficiency improvements and cost reduction, US based manufacturers will make the case for reshoring very compelling for their customers.

Open, automated dental and hearing aid prostheses machining at Medtec France

Sescoi will be previewing its WorkNC Hearing software for the automatic CNC machining of hearing aid prostheses, and showing the latest developments in its WorkNC Dental CADCAM, including the new Implantology and Automation modules, at Medtec France, Besançon, on booth 613.

Following the success of its WorkNC Dental CADCAM software, which enables dental professionals to manufacture highly accurate dental prostheses without the need for expertise in CNC machining, Sescoi has developed WorkNC Hearing to offer the same advantages to medical professionals for the automatic manufacture of hearing aid prostheses, earmolds and shells.

WorkNC Hearing uses WorkNC’s open, expert toolpath generation technology. Starting from a 3D scan of the prosthesis model, the imported CAD data is manipulated ready for machining. Automatic nesting of multiple prostheses maximizes material utilization and allows the user to position the part to avoid undercut conditions and to add support pins ready for manufacture. Machining wizards automatically select the tools to suit the material being cut and apply the 4-axis toolpath with just one mouse click. The WorkNC Hearing CADCAM software is fully open, allowing the user to choose the most cost effective material and tools to suit their application, while the intelligence within the software makes it easy to use, making prosthesis manufacture a completely automated process.

Sescoi’s open WorkNC Dental Implantology module imports scanned implant data or xml files of the implant location, along with the geometry of the abutment itself. Libraries of connectors, and the ability to create custom connectors make it easy to finalize the prosthesis geometry. Automated 5-axis machining can match any make of machine tool, and feature recognition perfectly aligns the orientation of holes for the supporting implants. The software supports a wide range of dental materials including titanium, chrome-cobalt, zirconia, lithium disilicate, E-max and PMMA. Machining wizards automatically select tools and apply toolpaths tailored to each material to generate optimized 5-axis cutterpaths, which will machine undercut conditions, drill the hexagonal abutments, and machine special geometry with matching tooling. This allows dental technicians to produce complex bridges and abutments without the need for CNC machining experience.

WorkNC Dental Automation gives dental laboratories a productivity boost by managing the flow and allocation of work through the machine tools. Bi-directional communication with the machine tool controller allows the software to allocate work to each machine according to available resources. The software manages job loading/unloading on pallets and bar feeds, reports error conditions on the machine, and starts and stops machining programs. By eliminating the manual management of each machine tool, the software removes the chance of human error and gives technicians more time to focus on core skills, increasing overall productivity.

All of Sescoi’s software has been designed to be both automated and open. The company collaborates with a wide range of scanner, CAD and machine tool manufacturers, giving medical professionals the opportunity to tailor a complete system to suit their needs and budget, while maintaining the flexibility to develop innovative new solutions for their customers.