CADCAM & PRODUCTION IT MEDICAL APPLICATIONS OF THE MOMENT
patterns and computed all permutations and
variables.
He explains: “So rather than someone
having to work everything out manually, such
as what we were going to cut, how we were
going to cut it and what’s got to go where, we
simply inputted which components we needed
in what sizes, and Alphacam did the rest,
including helping us with the correct cutting
speeds and feed rates. The rst cut parts
came off the machine within 24 hours of
installing the software.”
Managing director of Blackman & White
Alex White says of the software: “It’s a highly
cost-effective and productive tool. We match
it up with our machines regularly, when we’re
assembling them, and offer it as part of an
overall package for our customers.”
Blackman & White has been established
for more than 50 years and promotes itself as
being the only UK manufacturer of multipurpose
industrial cutting equipment that can
be used for routing, knife-cutting and laser
cutting across a wide range of substrates.
White says many of its customers found
the Covid-19 crisis meant there was no longer
an immediate requirement for the products
they were cutting and turned their hand to
manufacturing PPE for the NHS.“We’ve been
supporting our customers with opportunities
for the right tooling and programs for their
machines to be able to cut visors, gowns and
scrubs.”
That even extends to publishing a variety
of Alphacam les on its website for
customers cutting NHS scrubs, which came
about after White gave up his weekends to
personally cut around 300 sets of PPE.
Although the company doesn’t undertake
contract cutting, it has a Genesis-V model on
show in the demonstration area of its factory in
Maldon in Essex. The machine supports laser
and knife cutting, and also carries a router for
rigid and thin metals, along with wood.
While it would normally be used for cutting
a variety of materials such as carbon bre
pre-preg composite, it was perfect for
adapting to the needs of specialist PPE
scrubs. “As I carried this work out personally,
I learned to generate Alphacam les, which
cut these components perfectly. We made
these DXF les free on our website for anyone
with spare capacity on their cutting machines
to manufacture this much-needed PPE.
Several customers are using them.”
A free evaluation licence
of Alphacam CADCAM software has helped
Codem Composites step up to produce PPE
Industry & product news in brief
Accelerating companies’ digital transformations, allowing them to achieve a 90%
reduction in development time and cost, and as much as 90% faster time-to-value for
the most critical high-value use cases is the promise of an extended alliance between
PTC, Rockwell Automation and Microsoft. www.is.gd/eretif
FANUC UK is offering its Roboguide and CNC Guide simulation software programs as
free trials until the end of September 2020 to help companies get production back up
and running. www.is.gd/eboxut
Sheet metal software expert Lantek has struck a collaboration agreement with the
Italian company Euromac, a worldwide supplier of machines for working with sheet
metal, including CNC punch presses, benders and automated sheet metal systems.
www.is.gd/butisi
Covid-19 will accelerate the business world’s move to Augmented Reality (AR) and
other IoT solutions, as companies across the UK look to adapt to a ‘new working
normal’, so says computer software and services expert PTC. www.is.gd/nikuli
NUM has added non-circular grinding functionality to its NUMgrind cylindrical grinding
software, which forms an application-speci c element of the company’s Flexium+ CNC
platform. It is fully compatible with other Flexium software, from release 4.1.20.00
onwards. www.is.gd/hinuvo
ANCA’s new-look CIM3D V9 CIMulator3D software offers time-saving and user-friendly
enhancements for of ine productivity. www.is.gd/ofajir
Open Mind Technologies’ 2020.2 hyperMILL CADCAM suite release delivers
numerous functions to further simplify everyday machining tasks, such as new
strategies for the machining of cutting edges, upgrades to mill/turning, improved
parametric design in hyperCAD-S and upgrades to the ‘hyperMILL AUTOMATION Center
Advanced’. www.is.gd/avevet
The latest version of Vericut CNC simulation, veri cation and optimisation software
released earlier this year continues to be improved and enhanced with additional
incremental releases, which maintained users automatically receive. www.is.gd/yiheya
30 July/August 2020 | www.machinery.co.uk | MachineryMagazine | @MachineryTweets
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