The latest, organically styled dental chairs from A-dec (Newberg, Oregon) offer streamlined access for the dental team and, at the same time, comfortable seating for patients. To optimize the design a team of about 30 engineers throughout the company took every critical component of the chair through several design review phases. Even so, the entire product development process was completed quickly because productivity features of Mastercam X2 CAD software reduced the turn-around time for modified prototype parts by about 20%.
A-dec is America's largest dental equipment company. One reason for this is the popularity of products resulting from a comprehensive 3-tiered design review process. As the due date for one of the reviews draws nearer, the pace of work to produce components for meeting the deadline seems to grow exponentially. That used to be a problem
A-dec’s Senior Model Maker, Ken Chamberlain, said that early in this decade the company realised that the manufacturing of prototype parts for evaluation was becoming a bottleneck in the company’s design review process. That’s when A-dec purchased seats of Mastercam for its Product Development and Moldmaking departments. Today, the company has eight seats of Mastercam X2. Capabilities of the CAM software that help Chamberlain program a Fedal and Mori Seiki mill to respond expeditiously to design modifications include:
Sculpting Surfaces. Prototype components with organic sculptured surfaces are readily cut from wood or aluminium and alterations to the sculptured surfaces are made easily.
Overlaying Toolpaths. With Mastercam it is easy to superimpose toolpath changes over the existing part program as opposed to starting from scratch. This is a real time saver when changes are required in the part’s geometry.
Surface Blending. The software allows Chamberlain to blend one curved radius into another to produce seamless curves essential for styling and comfort.
Eliminating Secondary Operations. Precise control of the toolpaths, especially at the transitions, makes it possible to eliminate secondary operations like polishing of molds or sanding of castings.
High-Speed Savings. “The high-speed toolpaths are just awesome,” said Chamberlain. “I use them all the time. I get more time with the tool cutting as opposed to air moves. I have also noticed better tool life because the CNC toolpaths make smoother transitions in and out of the cut.”
Mastercam has reduced product development manufacturing turnaround time and costs. It has given A-dec the ability to reproduce intricate components that more faithfully represent the CAD model. Organic surfaces that could not be produced with CNC equipment previously have now become a reality because of newfound control over the toolpaths. |