"Vertical Machining Centers (VMCs) are inherently complex," said a Southwestern Industries spokesperson. "As a result, for many shops, two people are required to run them - a lesser skilled operator to load, monitor and unload parts, and a highly skilled CAM programmer to generate and revise programs. Because shop labor costs are greater than machine costs, this labor arrangement drives costs."
ProtoTRAK PMX CNC technology, standard on all Southwestern Industries LPM VMCs, is designed to address VMC complexity by simplifying the programming process. This enabling technology allows lower skill-level personnel to program and edit most if not all part programs, and frees up higher skill-level personnel to perform the highly complex work that may exist in a shop.
Based on Southwestern Industries' ProtoTRAK CNC conversational language technology available on TRAK lathes and mills, the PMX technology user interface consists of English language prompts and 2D/3D part program renderings. This means that the programmer does not have to know G-code or CAM to generate and edit programs.
Software packages that expedite the programming process are also available with the LPM VMC. These include:
- DXF Converter for generating conversational language programs directly from 2D CAD files
- Parasolid Converter for generating conversational language programs directly from 3D CAD files
- Verify Machining Simulation that provides a 3D graphic representation of a part machined in accordance with a conversational language (or G-code) program.
Although the PMX control simplifies and expedites the programming process, it is still capable of running CAM programs (G-code) for highly complex parts for which conversational language programming is impractical. G-code programs can be generated and edited at the machine, and CAM programs can be directly converted to conversational language programs for added flexibility.
For more information contact:
Bruce Meredith, Marketing
Southwestern Industries, Inc.
2615 Homestead Place
Rancho Dominguez, CA 90220
310-608-4422
info@southwesternindustries.com
www.southwesternindustries.com