The Right Choice

Cutting-Edge Machine Tools andCAM Software Help Job ShopReduce Cycle Time by 50%
October 11, 2019

Founded in 1984 and located in southern Maine, Arundel Machine has evolved into one of New England’s
leading CNC manufacturers of precision-machined components. With consistent annual investments of morethan $1.5 million per year, Arundel Machine is equipped with more than 40 CNC machines including three
DMG MORI NTX 2000 9-axis mill/turn machines, two DMG MORI DMU-50s, and one DMG MORI NMV30005-axis machining center, as well as several DMG MORI NHX4000/5000 Multi Pallet Horizontals. The company
has built a fantastic team of manufacturing engineers that produce more than 1,500 CNC programs each year
while also designing many custom fixtures and tooling.
Arundel Machine manufactures products to support the US Department of Defense, the US Navy, as well asothers—all with stringent level one and safety critical requirements. They’re also proud to serve the oil and gas
industry with level one subsea components that sustain the extreme pressures and temperatures of the oceanfloor.
Arundel Machine’s third major industry is aerospace, providing parts for engine and propulsion components,actuation, landing gear, and sensor components. Finally, the company provides flow and pressure components for the semiconductor sector, which requires a deep understanding of critical finishes, handling, andprocess controls.
As Arundel Machine increased its investment in advanced technology, the company soon recognized the limitations of its previous CAM software.
“The old software was cumbersome, hard to use, did not do 3D machining very well, and lacked good technical support,” says John Hebert, engineering manager at Arundel Machine. “I flew out to the software developer’s training facility to see if these issues could be resolved, but it wasn’t possible.”

Hebert searched for an alternative that could
help the company progress to the next level.
He came across ESPRIT CAM software fromDP Technology, which offers the ability to import a solid model from leading CAD softwareand use it as the basis for the CNC program.
ESPRIT supports state-of-the-art technology, such as 5-axis machining, mill/turn, andprobing, which is available for any class ofCNC machine tool.

“Support is key to the success of anycompany, whether it’s mechanical support for your machine tools or technicalsupport for your software. Partners like
DP Technology, with their terrific technicalsupport team for ESPRIT, have proven tobe a valued asset. They are prompt, supportive, understanding, and always willingto help you out, while educating you along
the way,” says Hebert.

“I talked to the owners of DP Technology
and was impressed by the fact that they aremachining guys as much as they are computer guys,” says Hebert. “ESPRIT gave us a trial
version and at the end of the trial, we wereimpressed and purchased the software.”Today, Arundel Machine produces thispart in a single setup by leveraging theNTX-2000 Mill/Turn machine and ESPRITCAM software. The manufacturing engineer created the CNC program by firstimporting the solid model provided by thecustomer into ESPRIT. He oriented thepart and then used the CAM software torecognize the features. The software recognized most, but not all, of the 100+ features in the part. The engineer defined therest of the features manually by changing
the model to wireframe geometry, picking
the edges to define each feature one by
one and selecting the ‘Chain’ command.
In defining roughing toolpaths, the engineer used ESPRIT’s ProfitMilling strategy,
which optimizes engagement angle, chipload, lateral cutter force, and machine acceleration to reduce cycle time when cutting out large areas of stock. Profit Turning
was also used for grooving out between
the cams. Compared to the traditional
turning toolpath, this ESPRIT cycle worked
wonderfully for breaking chips, resulting
in increased removal rates and longer toollife. ESPRIT’s 4-axis wrap milling is usedfor cutting, while the C-axis is rotated tosemi-finish and finish machine the camprofiles. Other finishing operations performed with 5-axis include contouringand composite cycles.

As an example of the parts that Arundel
Machine successfully programs with ESPRIT,
Hebert pointed to a shaft built for a defense
application. The shaft had multiple concaveand complex profiles, flat sections, and slotson the end of the shaft. In the past, this part

Machining part on DMG-MORI NTX 2000

would have been produced in two setups ona CNC lathe, one for each end of the part,
three setups on a 4-axis machining center toproduce the profiles, flat sections, and crosshole, and one setup on a 3-axis vertical mill
to produce the slot.

Inspection of part on ZEISS coordinate measuring machine

The manufacturing engineer apportioned operations between the two spindles to equalize
their cycle time by dragging and dropping operations from one spindle to the others.
These operations were apportioned among
the machine’s two spindles in several steps:
1. The bar is fed into the first spindle.
2. Lathe and turning tools are used to machine the exposed sides of the part.
3. When these operations are completed,the bar is cut off and transferred to thesecond spindle, exposing the unmachined side of the part for machining.
4. Meanwhile, the bar advances throughthe first spindle and the first side of thisnew part is machined.

DP Technology Corp.
1150 Avenida Acaso
Camarillo, CA 93012 USA

When the engineer was satisfied, he ran asimulation of the machining operation tocheck for crashes or gouging, inspected thedimensions of the machined part, and looked
for opportunities for cycle time improvement.
The program worked exactly as simulated on
the machine and produced good parts fromthe very first time it was run.
“We could not have programmed this partwith our old CAM software,” Hebert concluded. “ESPRIT not only provided a relatively
painless programming process, but alsoenabled us to reduce the cycle time by 50%
compared to similar but less complex parts
that we programmed with our old software.”T +1 805 388 6000
F +1 805 388 3085

esprit@dptechnology.com
espritcam.com
The Right Choice