Tag Archives: cycletime estimating

Real World Machining Cycletime Estimating & Why It Matters

The phrase … the guess … “That should take us about 2 minutes to machine.” … is costing you  money … plain and simple.

I would say that most of our clients who request an online demonstration of our KipwareCYC® software answer the question “So how do you estimate your cycletime currently?” in a similar fashion. Inevitably most pass it on to the machinist on the floor or the production manager or the manufacturing engineer … and they provide the machining time estimate. And when we push a little harder … it turns out that most usually use the scientific form of GUESSTIMATING to arrive at their times based on their 30+ years or so of machining.

The fact of the matter is that even with all that machining background … their cycletime estimate is still a guesstimate … and cost estimates produced from that will be incorrect. No matter what you are using for cost estimating … if the cycletime estimate is incorrect it could lead to winning work … but work that just loses money.

The other side of the coin is the “feature recognition” software that claim they can produce a cycletime estimate based on a solid model. So now we go from a free guess to a very high priced software application … but the result is probably the same … inaccurate times. Why? That high priced app probably can figure a machining cycletime estimate based on that 3D model … but the key is will the machining process it determines be the same process that will take place on your shop floor? Will the speeds and feeds it calculates be the same speeds and feeds that will be produced on your shop floor? Probably not … and that means the time it calculated is no better than a guesstimate.

The key to accurate cycletime estimating is simple … make certain that the machine specs, cutting process and parameters used accurately reflect what will happen on your shop floor. Period.

Our KipwareCYC® is real world cycletime estimating software that was developed in the real world over years of providing time estimates for machine justification and time estimates for high volume production. KipwareCYC® will provide you with consistency … and most important accuracy … in your cycletime estimating process. The real world design and features of KipwareCYC® will insure that machine specs and cutting parameters utilized in the estimate will accurately reflect what happens on your shop floor. In fact … the design insures that the more you use KipwareCYC® … the more accurate it becomes !!!

Want to learn more … we invite you to visit www.KentechInc.com and explore KipwareCYC® in more detail.

Better yet … why not arrange for a personal online demonstration and let us show you how we can back up our claims … click here to set one up.

Kenney Skonieczny – President
Kentech Inc.

New Length of Cut Calculators for CLC [ New Release ]

We have been touting for years that calculating the amount of time a tool is actually engaged in the cut is the best method to use when calculating machining cycletime. Cycletime based on things like “volume of material removed” are not as accurate as using length of cut … and we all know that if the cycletime isn’t accurate … if speeds and feeds are not based on what actually happens on YOUR shop floor … you might as well just guess the time. Your cycletime will not reflect the time that will be achieved on YOUR shop floor … so what’s the use?

Our KipwareCYC® has always been built on the length of cut feature … and the newly released version 11.1.0 of our Cut Length Calculator app for KipwareCYC® makes it even easier for users to calculate length of cut. CLC is , of course, a standard app that is included free with KipwareCYC®.

Here’s a breakdown of the new calculators :

 

#1 

We have included new 3D calculators for milling which can calculate length of cut for complex 3D milling operations as shown above. Using just a few simple inputs … the powerful calculations in CLC will auto calculate the tools length of cut.

#2

All pocketing menus now include the option to specify an island or number of islands that may be contained in the pocket. This feature is available is square / rectangular pockets as well as round pockets. After intense testing … a simple description of the outline of the pocket in round or rectangular format has proven sufficient enough to produce an accurate length of cut … without having to go overboard and describe an island shape greater than just contained in a square or rectangle or circle.

Again … the point of cycletime estimating is to produce an accurate estimate … without spending too much time or going overboard in terms of complexity.

#3

A new taper cutting feature has also been added on the turning side … to enable length of cut for tapers which the user may feel is not covered accurate enough using the various straight turning options in CLC. Again … simple inputs employ powerful behind-the-scenes calculations in CLC to produce the length of cut.

These new menu options are now shipping standard with KipwareCYC® as of this writing. Users who wish to UPGRADE to the latest version of KipwareCYC® which includes the latest version of the Cut Length Calculator … click here.

Kenney Skonieczny – President
Kentech Inc.