Category Archives: SaaS for Manufacturing

Fusion 360 [ and Why CAD/CAM Companies JUST DON’T GET IT !! ]

CAD/CAM companies and developers JUST DON’T GET IT !!

If you are a machinist and / or job shop CNC programmer … this article is for YOU !!

Let’s start at the beginning …

CAD/CAM was originally designed “back in the day” for the design and manufacture of COMPLEX aircraft components. And for that complex programming … yes it is indispensable. But once all those aircraft manufacturers had their CAD/CAM … the market started drying up and the CAD/CAM companies looked to diversify … to look to push their products into other areas … like everyday manufacturing. Gotta keep developing markets to keep those BIG profits coming in.

BUT the reality is …

CAD/CAM was never designed to be a PRIMARY G code generating tool … it’s a design tool first and foremost … thus the need for a drawing to program even the simplest part. This fact can lead to a number of job shop / everyday manufacturing / G code generating issues … such as :

  1. Removing good chipmakers from the manufacturing process. If you can’t draw … you can’t program.
  2. Slowing down the programming process … have to always create a drawing first.
  3. Adds unnecessary complexity to the programming process … CAD/CAM packages are so complicated with cryptic icon driven menu systems making it necessary to weed through tons of unnecessary menus to accomplish even the simplest tasks.

What’s CONVERSATIONAL about this ???

This is a screenshot for creating a RADIAL SLOT in the “latest and greatest” conversational app out there … REALLY ??? Complex … icon driven … too many options that complicate things … overkill !!!  Yes pretty pictures maybe … but come on … pretty pictures doesn’t mean easy or efficient … be real.

Compare it with the KipwareM® RADIAL SLOT menu below … simple … easy to use … yet still contains tons of powerful machining options.

Developers who are NOT MACHINISTS … who DON’T LIVE IN THE REAL WORLD … design software that is OVERKILL !!

The alternative ????

Shop Floor Programming … plain and simple.

Shop Floor Programming pretty much describes the programming that is done on 95% of job shops around the world every day. Simpler … everyday parts. A shaft with 3 diameters … a groove … and a thread. A round milled pocket with a bolt circle at the bottom. A simple 2D contour for a metal bracket.  You get the picture … you know the workpieces I speak of.

For the above … why on earth would I need to waste my time to create a drawing to create some G code ???

Shop floor programming is the answer. A simple tool that was designed specifically for G code generation … not design primarily … G code generating primarily.

Some machine tool builders will tell you that their cryptic, archaic “conversational” control is “shop floor programming”. But the fact is that their CNC control is NOT a PC … and doesn’t have a PC’s capabilities or user-friendly-ness. AND … it’s specific for their machine … and is locked to the machine. You gotta program in the shop … at the machine … and what about all your other machines?? There’s a BETTER alternative …

Kipware® CONVERSATIONAL CNC Programming Software

Load Kipware® conversational CNC programming software on a laptop … BOOM … conversational, fill-in-the-blank programming for EVERY machine in your shop. Program at the machine … in the office … at home on the couch with a beer … wherever !!

Kipware® CONVERSATIONAL CNC PROGRAMMING SOFTWARE is the ESSENCE of Shop Floor Programming.

Pull up a round pocket fill-in-the-blank screen … answer some questions … BOOM … G code.

Pull up a bolt circle menu … answer some questions … BOOM … G code.

Pull up a shaft menu … enter some diameters and lengths … BOOM … G code.

You get the picture.

If you agree with the facts outlined here …. if you’re fed up with having to go down the CAD/CAM road where CAD/CAM companies FORCE you to go … 

DUMP the CAD … KEEP the CAM … click HERE to DO IT !!

Kenney Skonieczny
President — Kentech Inc.

Why Fusion360 Users Are Moving to Kipware® Conversational

Over the last 2-3 months we have seen a growing interest from Fusion360 users for our Kipware® conversational CNC programming software. We have been polling those users as to why they’re interest has peeked and overall we have received answers along the same line … complexity vs. simplicity.

Let’s start with the MAIN fact … CAD/CAM was NEVER designed to be a G code generating tool FIRST and FOREMOST … it is a design tool first and foremost as the name clearly states. Everything starts with a drawing … period. If you designing … and then looking to create G code … yes it may be the tool for you. If you are not designing and primarily looking to create G code … the smarter move is to DUMP the CAD and KEEP the CAM with Kipware® conversational.

For users looking at Fusion360 as a CAM package … they are finding it all to complex … confusing ( as in not intuitive ) … and just plain overblown. These factors are leading to slow G code creation that leads to lost profits and related inefficiencies that basically eat away at profits. Most of the reasons expressed confirm our “sales pitch” as outlined in our many blog posts … full links are below and recommended reading if this topic has spiked your interest.

Is CAD/CAM Making Your Shop DUMBER?
Shop Floor Programming vs. CAD/CAM Programming

Of course for CAD and design work … Kipware® conversational is not in the same ballpark as Fusion360 … it includes a CAD / drawing package and we do not … we are focused on the CAM side of things.

But for creating G code programs and as a CAM package … where design work is not required ( say in a job shop setting ) … Kipware® conversational basically blows the doors off of Fusion360. KipwareM® ( milling ) and KipwareT® ( turning ) offer users a G code creation tool for the common, everyday type workpieces with ease-of-use, an intuitive interface, and powerful features that allow novice to expert machinists to create powerful G code programs quickly and easily.

Let’s talk price … Fusion 360 offered their products for free … just to get as many sign-ups as possible. Now after they have gotten people dependent on them … the cost is slowly rising. This is the “Vanderbilt Strategy”. When Cornelius Vanderbilt started offering a ferry service from Staten Island to Manhattan … he reduced the price to a nickel. Of course he didn’t make any money … but he knew his competitors would have to match the price … lose money or passengers … and eventually go out of business. They did. And once that happened he had the market to himself and could charge whatever he wanted … and he did. Fusion 360 went free to drive competition out of business … and to get sign-ups … and now that that has happened … they’re going to start to increase the price.

Do you want to work with a company like that?

If you have been looking at Fusion360 as a CAM alternative … we encourage you to take a look at Kipware® conversational. We invite you to request a live, one-on-one online demonstration … or attend one of our Live Events … we where we can show you the full Kipware® conversational experience and you can ask question / get answers in real time. Links are below.

Click HERE to request a Kipware® Live Demonstration

Kenney Skonieczny – President
Kentech Inc.

The 2016 Kipware® Development Report

Another year … come on !!! It’s hard to believe that we are about to add another year to our journey … our 31st year in business … in CNC and in CNC software development. Saying THANK YOU to all our customers who went REAL WORLD with us … who put their faith in our ideas, designs and development … it wouldn’t even begin to reflect our real gratitude. Without our customers we wouldn’t be here … and that’s why we continue to listen to your feedback … your requests … your ideas … and will continue to implement them as best as we can to continue to develop our world famous line of Kipware® … REAL WORLD MACHINE SHOP SOFTWARE.

At the beginning of each year we like to take a look back … to reflect and evaluate what we have accomplished during the past year for our products in terms of development and enhancements … and of course for our clients.

Versus other software vendors who boast “millions of hits on our website” … or who search the internet for good ideas and then make them their own … we’re doers. We don’t talk about it … we do it … and we’re more than happy to publish our doing it and lay it out there for all to see. We’re proud of our hard work and results and the fact that THOUSANDS of real world machinists … from the one man shop to fortune 500 companies like SpaceX and General Dynamics around the world use Kipware® software. I guess they’re doers too. Are you a doer?

Why do we feel it is important?

Since 2012 … the first year we started blogging regularly … we have posted our year-in-review article highlighting the main items of development over the year.  We feel this is SOOOO VERY IMPORTANT for a number of reasons … but let’s focus on the top two.

  1. To show clients and potential clients that Kentech Inc. and Kipware® software is constantly on the move … innovating … inventing … improving … and enhancing. So clients and potential clients can compare our rate of the above against other competition and developers. We are by far the busiest in terms of enhancing and upgrading our machine shop software … all our market leading titles. If you follow our blog you’ll know we are a big fan of software Version #’s. For developers who adhere to the software version norms … major release, minor release and build numbers ( e.g. 10.1.0  )  … these are an actual reflection of the number of releases which usually illustrates the amount of new development. As the major release number grows … it reflects the number of major upgrades and enhancements. The reverse … software with Version #’s that are low … reflect the lack of development and lack of major releases. This is a good indicator of how much work and effort a company is putting into development. We always encourage any potential client to compare our version numbers with any competitor … the result is always astounding. We have posted the current version #’s next to each title along with the release information for the last year for your review. Nothing to hide here.
  2. So existing clients can view the various changes and enhancements to titles they may own … and help them decide if these changes warrant an UPGRADE investment. Kentech Inc. does not have any maintenance agreements and no yearly fees. Our UPGRADE policy basically allows the user to pick-and-choose when they wish to upgrade based on features released. At any time the user can UPGRADE … and will receive the latest version of the software with ALL the current features. So if we release an UPGRADE and the features are not of interest this time but they are the next time … an UPGRADE purchase will get you ALL the features that have been released to date.

By the way … if you missed any of our previous end of the year reports or wish to see our progress … here are some links to help :

So without further ado ….

curtain

Let’s raise the curtain on this years highlights !!

This year we really stepped it up a notch … and went beyond just software development to branch out into some new endeavors. We introduced our Kipware® Cloud – SaaS for Manufacturing … and we started a sister company KÄRV to put our quoting and estimating and conversational CNC programming software to work in a real woodworking environment. We will be blogging more about KÄRV and how we are using Kipware® software in it’s operation in the upcoming months.

Below is a list of our accomplishments for 2016 … with links to articles with in-depth information about each. Enjoy.

The Kipware® CLOUD

This was BY FAR our biggest new undertaking … and judging by our subscription rate … you thought so too !! After about 2 years in planning … in April 2016 we finally unveiled the Kipware® Cloud – SaaS for Manufacturing. We worked very closely with our hosting partner to insure we “got it right” … and have been extremely happy with the roll-out, the stability, the security and mostly the performance of The Kipware® Cloud.

Our subscription rate continues to climb ( we don’t publish the numbers for the competition to use for their research … losers !! ) and customers who sign-up continue to maintain and in some cases even grow their subscriptions and number of titles they include. Cloud computing is the future … and we are proud to say we have once again have broken new ground to be innovators and pioneers in manufacturing. While companies offer one cloud based app … mostly CAD or CAM … the Kipware® Cloud offers users a whole host of real world applications from quoting and estimating to conversational CAM programming to G code conversion to CNC training. And all at a cost less then the single application offerings.

If you haven’t followed along with our Kipware® Cloud Blog posts … here is a list of some of best posts to gather some additional information :

What is SaaS and What is the Kipware® Cloud

Why Cloud Computing Makes Sense … EVEN FOR AN OLD GUY !!

The Kipware® CLOUD — SaaS For Manufacturing

We invite you to explore the Kipware® Cloud and it’s features through the links above. There are a lot of benefits to the Kipware® Cloud … and can help you move your business to the next level and into the future !!

KipwareT®

Conversational CNC Programming Software for Turning
Current Version : 19.1.0

  1. Conversational Tapered Radius Groove menu released … for more info CLICK HERE.
  2. Conversational Ball Turning Menu released … for more info CLICK HERE.

KipwareM®

Conversational CNC Programming Software for Milling
Current Version : 16.13.0

  1. New conversational 3D EDGE RADIUS menu released … for more info CLICK HERE.
  2. We have a lot of new menus up for development in 2017 including new hole menus … new slotting menus … new multiple fixturing menu and options … STAY TUNED !!

KÄRV Woodworking Is BORN !!

In October 2016 we decided to take our talents to the world of woodworking and we set-up a sister company to Kentech Inc. called KÄRV. KÄRV will be a company that produces custom handmade furniture and unique wood carvings using both our X-Carve CNC router and custom , hand woodworking. We fully intend to implement our KipwareCYC® ( cycletime estimating software ), KipwareQTE® ( cost estimating software ) and our KipwareM® conversational CNC programming software in this business and will be blogging extensively in 2017 about that implementation. Stay tuned to the Kipware® Blog for more !!

We have already started blogging … you can read some of those initial articles in the list below :

We’re Taking our Talents to …

Building the X-Carve for KÄRV Woodworking


The above illustrates only the MAJOR releases … there are also tons of minor tweaks behind the curtain along with User Interface changes that have been released without any fanfare. Unlike some developers who tout screen color changes or pop-up tips as MAJOR enhancements. I guess it comes from our on-the-shop-floor no-nonsense experiences … don’t give me something unless it truly makes a difference.

We invite you to compare this type of development and enhancements with any software developer you are considering. We like to use that famous New England clothiers marketing phrase … “An educated consumer is our BEST customer.” or “Shop us last … you’ll love us.

Of course … we couldn’t accomplish anything without the dedicated crew here at Kentech Inc. nor our fabulous family of Kipware® users. Thank you to everyone for your support and we promise to keep working hard … dedicate our efforts … to create and enhance our REAL WORLD software to make a difference in the REAL WORLD.

Happy New Year to ALL !!

Wishing all the best to everyone in 2017 !!
Kenney Skonieczny – President
Kentech Inc.

PC Based Conversational vs Conversational CNC Controls

As the creators of the industry’s premier PC based conversational CNC programming software  … Kipware® conversational … we hear the question quite often “Why should I consider your PC based conversational software over a CNC control with conversational built in?”

It certainly is a valid question … and we would like to take this post to explain what we consider to be the TWO MAIN facts that anyone considering purchasing a CNC machine based on the fact that the control includes conversational programming should consider. There certainly are others … but we consider the two outlined here to be the most important.

FIRST … Consider the PC vs the CNC Control

cnc_vs_pc

The first consideration is to start at the basics … the hardware. A CNC control is designed around it’s ability to RUN the CNC machine and it’s axis. That means that it’s components … screen … keyboard … processor … are designed and created to make the axis move with speed, precision and accuracy. After all … that is the main job of the CNC machine. And … it’s designed to withstand and handle the harsh shop floor environment. Those factors dictate the features and capabilities included in the CNC control. The main point of the CNC machine and therefore it’s controller … IS TO BE A MACHINE !!

Professional CNC controls are NOT computers … in the vain of “personal computers”. The harsh shop floor environment means the exclusion of features we take for granted every day with our PC … that make it’s operation seamless and easy. A mouse … full QWERTY type keyboard … screen resolution … file storage and retrieval … and so on. Conversational CNC controls are forced to use cryptic, backward operational  features like using the handwheel or arrow up and down keys or cryptic F keys to maneuver around.

Screen size and resolution along with the lack of “standard” computer hardware and lack of real “computing power” further restrict control based conversational. The ability to import a DXF file … for example … for program creation of non-standard type shapes is often lacking. And if present … is severely restricted by the screen size and resolution … often allowing for only the simplest of file importation.

Because the CNC conversational is married to the particular CNC machine … the conversational interface is restricted by the CNC machine capabilities. Menus are often cryptic … with simplistic images and prompts. The conversational layout and design often feels like an extension of the CNC control rather than a “programming system”. In some respects that is good … because the programming is output being 100% machine specific. But again it’s locked to that machine … the output is only good for that machine … and the programming must be done at that machine. Lack of portability means lack of expandability … and who wants to stay stationary in their business life?

The CNC CONTROL HARDWARE makes operating conversational programming on a CNC machine less intuitive … less powerful … slower … more error prone … and more time consuming when compared to operating CNC programming software on a PC.

Conversational

SECOND … Portability

portability

Second … consider the fact the your CNC conversational programming is locked and tied to the machine. That means ALL of the programming MUST be done at the machine … on the shop floor. Oftentimes … that means the machine is NOT cutting chips while programming is being done … or if programming and machine operation are done simultaneously, the operator is performing two tasks at the same time. Come on … seriously … that’s a recipe for disaster.

Consider that PC based conversational like Kipware® conversational  comes with multiple “real world” shop floor features.

  • The ability to move the programming from machine to machine … making ALL your machines conversational. Your shop can program multiple machines with one PC or laptop. Loading PC based conversational like Kipware® onto a laptop … or today on a Microsoft tablet … adds new and powerful programming options to the shop floor. The tablet makes the “programming system” portable … being able to be moved from machine to machine … or into the office for some “quiet time” programming. Smaller shops can even take the laptop / tablet home for programming offsite.
  • Since you are using the same laptop / PC and the same software … all conversational programming for all machines is done using the SAME interface. Professional conversational software like Kipware® conversational uses the same interface for both milling and turning programming. This means that users spend less time learning the software and more time creating programs that cut chips … and make profits.
  • Professional PC based conversational like Kipware® has power that allows for the program creation for machine with different controllers. For example … Kipware® conversational can create G code programs for Fanuc … Haas … Okuma and any other “fanuc compatible” controls standard, out-of-the-box. For non-fanuc-compatible machine / controls … our powerful KipwareXC® option allows Kipware® conversational to handle them as well.
  • File storage and retrieval can be done off the machine … even on a server … which means safer and more secure data. Repetitive programs can easily be recalled and edited and updated … and done using the same conversational interface if using Kipware® conversational. Most CNC controls do not have the capability to recall a conversational program or cycle … which means family of parts or similar parts must always be re-created from scratch. Professional conversational software like Kipware® … and you can compare this feature on other “hobby software” … can recall any cycle created through the conversational menus. This means that if you are programming a part similar to a part you programmed one month or one year ago … you can simply recall that cycle … make a few changes using the conversational, fill-in-the-blank form … and create a completely new cycle in seconds. Kipware®‘s unique cycle recall feature even allows you to maintain the same, proven speeds and feeds used in the original cycle.

AND … we didn’t even mention cost !!

Almost always on professional CNC controls … conversational programming is an OPTION ,,, and an expensive option. Consider this … for less than $1,000 you can ADD conversational programming to multiple machines on your shop floor through a Microsoft tablet and Kipware® conversational software !!

As I mentioned earlier … these are only two of the many factors that really make PC based conversational software a much more powerful … efficient … profitable option than CNC control based conversational software. If you are contemplating making a purchase of a CNC machine … and the fact that the control has a conversational programming option … we invite you to take a look at Kipware® conversational … arrange for a live, online demonstration … and let us show you why a PC based, professional conversational application like Kipware® conversational is the smarter option.

You can use any of the links below to get additional information … or to arrange a live, online demonstration of Kipware® conversational.

Our Website : www.KentechInc.com

Arrange a LIVE – ONLINE Demo here :
http://www.kentechinc.com/Webex_Request.html

Thanks so much for exploring our Blog !!

Kenney Skonieczny – President
Kentech Inc.

Fadal to Okuma G Code Conversion Software

Kentech Inc. has been a pioneer and innovator in the world of G code conversion since 1986. And since that time we have received quite a few requests for a G code conversion application that can convert Fadal G code to Fanuc format. Althogh we do not have a specific hard-coded application for this conversion … our KipwareXC® application can be configured quite easily to perform this conversion very well. Fadal machines can be configured by parameter to accept Fanuc style G code (Format2) or the Fadal format (Format1) which is a little more powerful if doing manual type programming. Sub routines and canned cycles are handled a little different in Format1 … but the format is till pretty close to Fanuc format. For this reason … KipwareXC® has been a good solution.

However we have recently received many requests for a conversion from Fadal G code to Okuma OSP format … and this one is a little more tricky. Since Okuma format is quite different than Fanuc … and of course Fadal format … we needed a custom, hard-coded app to accomplish this task.

So we wrote one !!

Kentech Inc. is pleased to announce the release of our new Fadal Options for our CNC XChange – Fanuc / Haas / Okuma Milling Version. For those unfamiliar with CNC XChange … it is a hard-coded application that will automatically convert Fanuc / Haas G code to Okuma OSP G code … and reverse. It has options that will auto-convert Fanuc Macro to Okuma User Task … and reverse … as well as auto-convert Live Tool and Y axis programming between the two formats. The term hard coded simply means that all the standard G code conversions are defined inside the source code … so it is specifically designed for Fanuc / Haas <–> Okuma conversions.

For non-standard code … M codes for example … the user can use the User Options within the software to customize the conversion. They can … for example … set-up an unlimited number of user defined conversions to handle say M51 to M71 … or convert G91G28Z0 to G00Z50.0. The User Options are very powerful with many options … and now the Fadal Options have been added. A screenshot is below.

fadal_okuma_options_list

Let me take a few moments to outline these options.

  1. TURN ON FADAL OPTIONS … kind of self-explanatory but this option allows the user to turn the auto-conversion ON or OFF completely.
  2. STRIP SUBROUTINES … this one is quite powerful. Fadal programs define any subroutines used inside the program at the very top of the program. Subroutines start with an L number followed by the G code routine to repeat and ends with an M17. The last subroutine ends with an M17 and then an M30 on the next line.  The Fadal control will read the program … record the subroutines and their locations … and then start the machining once it finds the M30. Using this option within CNC XChange will cause the software to automatically strip each subroutine out of the code and place it’s contents in a text file and save that text file under the L name for the subroutine. Pretty cool … and very powerful !!
  3. The SUBROUTINE CONVERSION OPTIONS will now tell CNC XChange what to do with those subroutines. The first option will cause CNC XChange to automatically insert the contents of the subroutine called … remember it’s stored in a text file … at each location in the program where it is called. So basically when CNC XChange finds the subroutine call in the program … it dumps the contents of that text file into that location in the converted program. Again … pretty cool. If you don’t want that option … the second choice is to just insert a Fanuc M98P call … calling that subroutine. Of course since we are converting to Okuma … that M98P call will eventually get converted to the Okuma equivalent as the conversion process proceeds.

There are some other code conversions built into the Fadal conversion routine that are not user configurable … they’re just done automatically like :

  • Removing the + sign from the R command in canned cycles
  • Re-configuring the G84.1 Q feedrate and F RPM to their Fanuc / Okuma equivalent.
  • Convert E1-E6 to G54-G59 … and their Okuma equivalent.
  • And convert G2/G3 lines with an L repeat. Another cool conversion because CNC XChange will automatically just repeat the contents of the line as many times as L commanded.

We will also be incorporating these new features into our Fadal to Fanuc conversion to make it even more powerful.

Conversion

If your shop suffers from the control incompatibility issue … check out KipwareXC® and Kipware® CNC XChange HERE.

Kenney Skonieczny – President
Kentech Inc.