After seeing a decline in the precision grinding market in recent years, Nadjar company director Renaud Nadjar has expanded his Villeurbanne, France-based shop to take on a variety of other machining processes.

Nadjar’s first investment was in milling. Unimpressed by the programming software embedded in numeric control systems, Renaud Nadjar decided to equip the company with standalone programming software. He wanted to program more complex parts and undertake programming in the background while the machine was operating. He knew by talking to other subcontractors that there were problems with some of the solutions available on the market. Wanting to avoid those pitfalls, Nadjar decided to meet with several CAM software developers to help him make the right decision.
Nadjar discovered that the partnership between machine manufacturer Haas and Esprit CAM software made it possible to purchase both in a package deal. “Thanks to this partnership, we were able to start with certified post processors and error-free CAM,” he explains. Nadjar subsequently made an initial investment in three Haas machines with corresponding Esprit licences.
This successful initial experience led Nadjar to quickly buy an NC lathe with another Esprit licence and then another milling machine. However, the demand for 3D machining prompted the company to purchase the Esprit 3D milling module. It was a new challenge, but several months on, Nadjar is delighted with the investment: “As the software calculates everything, it prompts with coherent values, and we save an incredible amount of time. And of course, the results obtained are outstanding.”
The company has already exceeded its revenue forecast and plans to invest in five-axis milling and three- and five-axis turning next. “We are limited by our machines, but there’s no limit with Esprit CAM,” concludes Nadjar.
For further information www.espritcam.eu

SolidWorks 2018 features an integrated, end-to-end solution for the design-to-manufacturing process that enables businesses of any size to rethink how components and products are made. Powered by Dassault Systèmes’ 3DExperience platform, SolidWorks 2018 supports a complete design through manufacturing strategy with solutions that simplify the interactions between disciplines across the product development workflow.

“Lots of designs involve welding plate and sheet-metal parts, and most people use ‘tab and slot’ techniques for self-fixturing the parts for welding,” says Edson Gebo, owner, Digital Detail & Design. “The new tab and slot feature saves a lot of time versus having to create these features manually, which helps get designs to the shop faster.”
With SolidWorks 2018, teams can collaborate concurrently to more rapidly and cost-efficiently design a product or part, validate its function and manufacturability, manage its data and related processes, streamline and automate its manufacturing, and inspect it. Any changes in design or manufacturing are fast and easy to manage, and automatically flow to all related models, programs, drawings and documentation, thanks to intellectual property embedded early on in the design process.
A key feature in the latest version of SolidWorks is SolidWorks CAM, a new application that provides rules-based machining with knowledge capture to allow for the automation of manufacturing programming. Designers and engineers can gain a greater understanding of how their designs are made, make more informed decisions, and quickly create prototype parts and manufacture in-house to control quality, cost and delivery. This application also enables teams to execute new build-to-order strategies with custom parts that are automatically designed and programmed in seconds rather than hours.
For further information www.solidworks.co.uk

Among the companies to first introduce simultaneous five-axis machining into its region has chosen the VISI integrated CADCAM system from Vero Software to drive its CNC machine tools.

Modulo Tre, which was founded in 1995 by partners Alessandro Corà, Marco Dal Bianco and Gilberto Dal Pozzo, now has a large fleet of latest-generation machines. Adopting five-axis technology means the company can machine a range of components such as hollow and grooved profiles, with deep and sloping holes, without material constraints.
Here, the need for reliable and simple CADCAM integration led Modulo Tre – based at Schio, Northern Vicenza in Italy – to introduce VISI.
“For complex five-axis machining, it’s crucial to be able to drive almost with your eyes closed, avoiding collisions and tool issues that could compromise the entire workpiece machining process,” says Corà. “Machines often work round-the-clock, so a simulator is indispensable for operations in unattended areas.”
Among the most popular VISI functionality, according to Dal Bianco, is the ability to automatically recognise machined features such as holes and pockets, and generate the appropriate toolpaths. He says that as VISI is an integrated system, machining individual plates can be accomplished automatically through feature recognition: “All holes are recognised automatically and the correct machining cycle applied. For complex machining, VISI allows us to handle high-speed and five-axis operations, as well as traditional milling.”
VISI also delivers a wide range of multi-axis machining strategies suited to the development of turbine impellers, one of Modulo Tre’s main business areas.
For further information www.visicadcam.com