http://www.thefabricator.com/CADCAM/CADCAM_TechCell.cfm The CAD/CAM Software tech cell is packed with specific links to help you find product information, suppliers, technical articles, case studies, seminars and conferences, as well as books, software, and videos on metal fabricating-related topics. en-us http://www.thefabricator.com/RSS/images/thefabricator_rss.gif http://www.thefabricator.com Copyright 2007 FMA Communications, Inc. All rights reserved. official publication date Tue, 21 Aug 2007 11:13:23 AM CDT Vicki Bell Laurie Harshbarger http://www.thefabricator.com/CADCAM/CADCAM_Article.cfm?ID=1639 In February 2007 a four-man precision metal fabricating shop—with the help of two temporary employees—laser-cut more than 500 jobs comprising 73,863 metal pieces and weighing more than 315,000 pounds. That's good news for Chris Hollenback, president of Integrated Manufacturing Solutions (IMS), Shakopee, Minn., and his business partner, Nick Kopka, also the company's vice president. IMS spent more than $2 million 16 months ago on metal fabricating equ... Dan Davis, Executive Editor Tue, 12 Jun 2007 12:00:00 AM CDT http://www.thefabricator.com/CADCAM/CADCAM_Article.cfm?ID=1513 Looking for software to run its 13 laser cutting systems spread across two job shops, Laser 3D, based in Melbourne, Australia, chose Camtek’s PEPS five-axis CAM software to run its LaserLab and TRUMPF lasers. The software helped to reduce setup times by 50 percent, because operators no longer had to conduct manual teaching of the laser cutting heads, and fixturing times by 80 percent. Software has changed the nature of fabricating. Most fabricating shops hammer out the ma... Dan Davis, Executive Editor Tue, 12 Dec 2006 12:00:00 AM CST http://www.thefabricator.com/CADCAM/CADCAM_Article.cfm?ID=1451 In Wisconsin farm country, not far from Madison, is the Waterloo headquarters and frame manufacturing plant for TREK bikes. Its 1,000 employees produce about 600 frames a day—300 metal (aluminum, titanium, or steel) and nearly that in carbon fiber. The frames then are sent to another plant for assembly into a bicycle. Last year TREK designed and produced 13 new metal models, with an average of seven different sizes of each. The company replaces each model with a new one about... Tue, 12 Sep 2006 12:00:00 AM CDT http://www.thefabricator.com/CADCAM/CADCAM_Article.cfm?ID=1408 In as little as 20 minutes, some of today's offline multiaxis CAD/ CAM software for laser cutters can automatically design and generate NC code for a sheet metal workholding fixture, create NC code for 3-D parts, perform cutting simulations with part interference checks, and allow modification of cutting parameters. Such software can save hours, even days, in fixture design and construction, programming, and fine-tuning of 3-D cutting applications. This article describes how a ... Tim O'Donnell Tue, 11 Jul 2006 12:00:00 AM CDT http://www.thefabricator.com/CADCAM/CADCAM_Article.cfm?ID=1407 Faced with a number of economic snafus, U.S. fabricators are examining every possibility for increasing production and lowering costs. One such area of contemplation is software. According to Shawn E. Thompson, CAD/CAM Business Manager for Strippit/LVD, fabricators have had to reduce and restructure their resources, cut operating expenses, seek out new customers in a competitive marketplace, diversify into new markets in which they have less expertise, rationalize excess capacity and... Kevin Cole, Associate Editor Tue, 11 Jul 2006 12:00:00 AM CDT http://www.thefabricator.com/CADCAM/CADCAM_Article.cfm?ID=1211 A Great Dane just happens to watch over the entrance of Great Dane Trailers. You don't become a big dog in manufacturing without knowing about technology and innovation. For the last 100 years, Great Dane Trailers has followed that strategy and is now the largest trailer company in the world. The company started in 1900 as Savannah Blowpipe Co., making the cyclone-shaped sheet metal blowpipe systems sawmills and furniture manufacturers in the southeastern U.S. commonly used. The com... Tue, 13 Dec 2005 12:00:00 AM CST