Vericut cuts granite machining risks at Reitz

Reitz Natursteintechnik KG is an expert in the planning, design and manufacturing of highly precise machine components made from granite. To ensure efficient and above all safe processing, the company takes advantage of Vericut simulation software to deliver process-reliable production and reduced workload for employees.

Christopher Reitz is the company’s fourth generation managing director. His mission? To place customer needs even more at the centre of the 140-employeee company, which serves sectors such as semiconductor, optics, general mechanical engineering, automation, metrology, printing and medical technology.

The granite workpieces vary in size up to 13 m, weighing up to 65 tonnes. Processing such blocks precisely means Reitz relies almost exclusively on machines developed and built in-house: four gantry-type milling machines and two five-axis gantry machines, all controlled by Siemens 840D. To ensure safe, fast and precise machining, the company uses Vericut simulation software.

“Granite is a natural product, so the surface is never perfectly flat,” says Reitz. “To prevent tool collisions during processing, we developed a process with Vericut that virtually eliminates this risk.”

Adds René Maschlanka, responsible for sales and project management at Reitz: “Vericut eliminates the need for manual set up, saves valuable operator time and protects our machines. Now our programmers and operators are far more relaxed – they know their programs will run safely, with no crashes.”

Some machining processes at Reitz can take over 40 hours. Previously, the operator had to stand by the entire time. Now, they run the simulation on a PC, press start and only check in occasionally.

More information www.vericut.com

Lantek delivers top service for DMS Laser Profiles

For laser cutting specialist DMS Laser Profiles, fast and accurate quotation preparation, easy program generation for its Trumpf lasers and responsive aftersales support were the key reasons the company chose to replace its existing system with Lantek software in May 2024.

Based in Maidenhead, the company specialises in stainless steel fabrication primarily in the petrochemical, process engineering, pharmaceutical, food and water sectors. Initially, DMS Laser Profiles subcontracted laser cutting but moved this in-house in the early 2000s to improve supply line security and reliability.

Sales manager Josh Hall says: “We generate around 230 quotations every month and have checked the costs generated by Lantek against the actual costs and it’s really quite accurate. Additionally, during installation and commissioning, where the costs did not line up, Lantek engineers quickly fixed any discrepancies.”

As well as costs for laser cutting, Lantek’s Integra Quotes software generates prices for other operations such as folding and welding, as well as outsourced operations such as powder coating. It also generates invoices for completed work and integrates with the company’s accounting software.

Typically, CAD data for a new job is either fed into Lantek Expert for flattening, or where there is an assembly of parts, processed in SolidWorks to get the individual flattened components. Around 11 dedicated estimators and programmers use the Lantek software, pre-nesting parts into 2.5 x 1.25m or 3 x 1.5m sheets as part of the quotation process, prior to final nesting and programming when the job is released for production.

Hall says: “With Lantek, we can track parts back to the individual sheet, which is important for ISO traceability requirements.”

More information www.lantek.com

ModuleWorks unveils 2025.04 Software Components

ModuleWorks has launched the 2025.04 release of its software components for digital manufacturing. This latest release of the ModuleWorks SDK (software development kit) includes new and enhanced features designed to enhance process safety, improve tool-path generation efficiency and increase part quality.

For example, take multi-axis edge finishing in deburring operations and the introduction of a user-defined edge sequence. With automatic sorting, it is often difficult to meet the deburring requirements of each part because the pre-defined order does not always match the specific needs of the job. The ModuleWorks 2025.04 release introduces a practical alternative to automatic sorting: users can now preserve the input order of the curves, with the resulting tool path sorted accordingly. This capability gives users more flexibility, enabling them to machine edges in their preferred sequence to improve overall machining efficiency and precision. 

On the same subject, ModuleWorks 2025.04 introduces automatic machining direction. Previously, determining the appropriate machining direction for three- and four-axis tool paths often led to sub-optimal ordering, resulting in discontinuous tool paths. ModuleWorks 2025.04 contains a new option called ‘automatic machining direction’ that takes the contour direction into account to ensure optimal ordering. This makes deburring tool paths more user-friendly while also reducing cycle time. 

As a further enhancement, three-axis machining now benefits from corner peg removal for constant cusp. Generating a consistent surface finish in corner regions is often hampered by pattern collapse and corner smoothing. The intelligent corner peg removal solution tackles problematic cusps where the pattern collapses or corner smoothing shifts the tool path. This new approach automatically adds strategic peg loops in corner areas, ensuring smooth, consistent results and minimising the need for manual polishing.

More information www.bit.ly/43fBmT5

Sustainable impact calculator for refurbished spares

At this year’s Drives and Controls Exhibition, part of Smart Manufacturing Week (NEC, Birmingham, 4-5 June 2025), Netherlands-headquartered JC-Electronics is launching a sustainable impact calculator that enables customers to view the CO2, resource and cost savings of refurbishing HMIs, rather than replacing with new. 

Parts obsolescence has long-posed a challenge for industry, often leading to unnecessary waste when older components are discarded prematurely. Coupled with mandatory reporting procedures for the largest organisations under the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), businesses are being driven to find new ways to improve their sustainability credentials and reduce carbon emissions.

Chief commercial officer Caspar Botter explains: “Many companies struggle with the product lifetime management policies of the big OEM machinery manufacturers and feel forced to spend considerable time and expense on new upgrades. At the same time, they are being encouraged to reduce their use of raw materials and consider reuse where feasible.”

He continues: “We want to show customers that there’s an alternative through the purchase of refurbished industrial automation spare parts. When they choose JCertified refurbished electronics, they save on water, raw materials and the CO2 needed for the production of new electronics and benefit from a two-year warranty. When combined with our new sustainable impact calculator, we can give our customers clear, at-a-glance information on the cost, CO2 and resource savings that can be achieved.”

In a comparison between a typical mid-sized HMI and a refurbished unit, JC-Electronics can demonstrate that the refurbished part saves 80% of CO2 equivalent, 99% of metals and minerals use, and 86% of water use.

More information www.jc-electronics.com/uk

Boost collaboration between design and production

A new addition to Onshape’s suite of cloud-native features is promising to streamline the connection between design and production workflows. PTC, a UK authority on digital transformation and design, has launched CAM Studio Beta, which integrates CAD, CAM and product data management (PDM) to give design and manufacturing teams the opportunity to plan, simulate and collaborate on machining processes. The release offers a complete design-to-manufacturing solution, enhancing productivity and creating new opportunities for manufacturing brands across the globe.

“With the release of CAM Studio directly into Onshape’s cloud-native platform, users gain built-in version control and centralised storage for their manufacturing strategies,” says David Katzman, general manager of Onshape and Arena at PTC. “This ensures seamless collaboration, eliminates the risks of file-based workflows and provides traceability throughout the design-to-manufacturing process. CAM Studio reinforces our commitment to empowering teams with tools that enhance productivity and drive innovation.”

CAM Studio supports 2.5 and basic 3-axis machining, with the most common manufacturing strategies and machines. For users with advanced manufacturing needs, CAM Studio Advanced will offer enhanced capabilities, including advanced 3, 4 and 5-axis machining strategies.

Other features and benefits of Onshape CAM Studio include faster access to the latest manufacturing information while utilising Onshape’s built-in PDM functionality for G code and tooling strategies, as well as streamlined communication and easy sharing between CAD designers and manufacturing engineers. Furthermore, all stakeholders work from a single source of truth, saving time and money while also reducing manufacturing errors.

Among additional advantages, no additional software installations, licensing costs or administrative costs are necessary. Users also gain from cloud-native accessibility anytime, anywhere.

More information www.ptc.com