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Product category: CAM, CNC and production management software
News Release from: Pathtrace Engineering Systems | Subject: EdgeCAM
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial Team on 23 May 2003

Automated manufacturing speeds valve
supply

Customers of Weir Valves and Controls UK (WVCUK) can now benefit from its fully integrated computerised business process system to supply engineered valve solutions.

Customers of Weir Valves and Controls UK (WVCUK) can now benefit from its fully integrated computerised business process system to supply engineered valve solutions Developed by WVCUK, the online interactive entry of customer's requirements and specifications automatically initiates the appropriate engineering and manufacturing processes and, as a result dramatically reduces lead-time and ensures precise engineering and manufacturing data

The Weir Group Company's novel use of manufacturing technology is centred around Parasolid-based CAD systems, with the offline programming of its 40 CNC machine tools being driven by EdgeCAM Solid Machinist software from Pathtrace of Reading.

Says the company: "The results achieved so far through the contribution of EdgeCAM have meant that part programming is much more efficient and accurate, enabling production costs to be accurately predicted".

Indeed, the implementation of its e-business strategy has already transformed production processes cutting lead times by half and slashing the time taken to process bills of materials from weeks to just minutes.

EdgeCAM plays a crucial role in the product configuration process and in the standardisation of processes by enabling the automatic generation of process routes, CNC part-programs using parametrics, setting procedures and tool layouts.

As a result, EdgeCAM has enabled set up times to be reduced, run times shortened, prove-out eliminated and ensures accurate time and cost data are recorded, while maintaining a consistent level of quality.

By adopting such ground-breaking levels of integrated, high-tech manufacture, WVCUK is already able to specify an engineered valve by simply keying in data such as type, process, temperature, pipe size, details of flanges and material as well as quality requirements.

From this basic input, the system automatically designs, plans, schedules, specifies materials, and then initiates the production routines.

Established in 1843, 350-employee WVCUK is a world leader in high-performance and extreme duty control and isolation valves of 15 to 1800mm diameter.

These are made to order at its site in Huddersfield for the oil and gas, refinery, petrochemical, process plant and power and industrial sectors.

The company's previous management routines were based on serial flow-type information procedures and required a high level of manual input.

This approach had a number of disadvantages and regularly led to discontinuity, queues at each stage of manufacture, incompatible data, inaccurate forecasts and long lead times - which meant a slow response to customer demands.

WVCUK has been working on its e-business strategy for over two years, fuelled by the desire to boost competitiveness by improving efficiency and responsiveness.

WVCUK decided to go all-out to establish an innovative e-business strategy that would automate valve making from quotations.

The new system, which went live in January 2002 with one product range, encompasses order entry, engineering drawings, bills of materials, quality plans, CNC programming, production routines and purchase requisitions.

As a result, manual input is minimal while maximum use is made of existing components.

Indeed, by eliminating a raft of manual procedures which included CNC programming, the resulting manufacturing system uses parametric design and production techniques and is much faster and more accurate.

Solid Edge 3D CAD software - which enables all the geometric and dimensional data required for manufacture to be held within the solid model - is complemented by EdgeCAM as well as spreadsheets, SAP's ERP system, engineering models and special software developed in-house.

All existing and potential parts in a product are assigned characteristics, to identify them of which some are parameters in the 3D parametric model of the component.

The configurator identifies the components required and, if it has not been configured before, its characteristics are passed to Solid Edge, to produce a 3D solid model.

This information is then taken directly into EdgeCAM Solid Machinist for part-program creation without the need for translators and data is also transferred to a Pathtrace command interface (PCI) which automatically specifies tooling, speeds and feeds, fixtures, machining sequence, setup and operation sheets.

The company has five seats of EdgeCAM, two of which are continually used for generating PCIs while the remainder take care of any part-program creation that is currently outside the new system.

By using one PCI for each family of related components - WVCUK has already created 40 'master interfaces' and around 240 modular versions.

A typical valve will have more than 40 individual elements of which some 12 parts are required to be manufactured and all of these could be totally 'new'.

These parts are processed through eight manufacturing cells which handle different sizes of valve body as well as all peripheral components such as seats, discs, stems and bonnets.

The use of parametric modelling and master models for both CAD and CAM has provided a fast track production operation, with all components shown in EdgeCAM as 3D models.

The EdgeCAM program also includes graphical simulation of machining cycles so programs can be checked or amended.

Once approved, all part-programs are downloaded to the appropriate machine via a DNC link.

Some 40 CNC machines including lathes, machining centres and horizontal borers are directly linked to EdgeCAM.

To the future WVCUK is now considering how the Internet could be used by customers for remote access to the system - which would make WVCUK one of the leading manufacturers on the international scene.

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