The next release of Delcam’s award-winning PowerMILL CAM software will be launched at the IMTS exhibition to be held in Chicago from 8th to 13th September. The new version will offer a more complete solution for complex machining operations, together with more control for experienced machinists that know exactly how they wish to machine a particular part. The program will also include a range of enhancements to existing functionality to enable both faster programming and faster machining.

A complete solution

"Ever since its first release, PowerMILL has focussed on the more complex parts of any manufacturing operation,” explained Delcam’s CAM Development Director Steve Hobbs. "Many of our toolmaking customers tend to program the simpler tasks, like sizing the starting block of material, and finishing operations, such as cutting off, on the equipment tool control rather than by off-line programming. However, as we have become more established in production machining, a growing number of our customers want to program everything with their CAM system. This has always been possible in PowerMILL but the new options in PowerMILL 9 will make the complete programming process much easier.”

Using a completely offline approach to programming gives other benefits as well. Firstly, it ensures that a fully-detailed record is maintained of the whole manufacturing process. This will make it easier for jobs to be repeated by different staff, or even at different locations, and will ensure a consistent approach is maintained whenever and wherever a part is produced subsequently.

Secondly, it makes simulation of the complete process easier and more reliable. The simulation can begin from the starting block of material, rather than the user having to produce a model of the stock remaining after the manually-programmed operations have been completed.