Cimquest is Growing
Please help Cimquest in welcoming our two newest employees Anna Acquaviva and Jake Manganiello. Anna and Jake will be Subscription Service Associates. They will be responsible for customer engagement and subscription retention strategies which will play a critical role in the future growth of Cimquest. Anna Acquaviva lives in Bridgewater, NJ. She's the only one in her immediate family born in the US and she actually learned to speak Italian before learning English. Anna came to Cimquest from a NJ-based business news journal called NJBIZ, where she was the events and marketing director. Jake Manganiello is a recent college grad of Rowan University. He studied at the Rohrer Business school, majoring in business marketing and economics. Jake worked at TD Bank for a number of years, as well as a small marketing firm in Jersey City. Jake grew up in the small town of Mountainside, NJ in a family of seven.
New Mastercam 2020 Released
Mastercam 2020 has been released today and it is now available for purchase! Mastercam 2020 increases machining productivity and reduces overall production costs with new 2D through multiaxis milling automation features, CAD and model preparation improvements, improved Machine Configuration, 3D Tooling, and more. CNC Programming Mastercam 2020 continues to increase productivity and programming efficiency, while reducing overall production costs, with a series of automated 2D through 5-axis toolpath improvements. The new 3D Blend toolpath delivers a smooth, precision surface finish, and provides stock and holder checking. 3D tooling has also seen many usability improvements such as 3D tool icons in tool lists, stop-on-contact functionality when mating insert to holder, and auto-populating compensation point when defining 3D tools. Job Preparation and Setup Mastercam 2020 increases efficiency and reduces job setup time and the preparation needed for part machining and programming. This includes the ability to filter inserts and holders by attributes as well as the ability to track associativity. Chaining enhancements include faster, easier chaining for Wireframe and Solids, and chain display and behavior improvements. Job Preparation and Setup Mastercam 2020 increases efficiency and reduces job setup time and the preparation needed for part machining and programming. This includes the ability to filter inserts [...]
Mastercam Add-in Functions Part 2
We recently covered some of the new Add-in functions in Mastercam 2019, but today we would like to explain even more of them. In previous versions of Mastercam, these functions were referred to as C-Hooks or Net hooks. They can be used to customize, enhance, or extend Mastercam’s basic functionality. In many cases, popular functions have become integrated directly into the main program. The Mastercam Help file provides extensive information about the Add-ins and a complete list with descriptions of the more than forty Add-in functions included at install. This article will take a brief look at three of them: Arc Multi-Edit, Hole Table, and Find Overlap. The file above has many circular features. If a rev change takes place, you won’t want to edit them all individually. To avoid this, go to Home/Add Ins/Run Add-in, then select the Arc Multi-Edit dll file. You can use the Advanced Select filter to pick just the features you want to edit, change the radius in the dialog box, and click OK. After you do a quick regeneration of your toolpath the change will be complete. If you would like to have a visual reference to the hole sizes and their locations, go to Home/Add Ins/Run [...]
3D Printing Helps the World’s Largest Furniture Manufacturer
In the face of decades of shifting markets, endless new technologies, and unprecedented labor shortages, Ashley Furniture has only continued to grow. In 2005, they became the largest furniture manufacturer in the world, a title they still hold today. The company followed the arch most American businesses of its era dreamed of. Its first manufacturing facility opened in Arcadia, Wisconsin in 1970 with 35 employees, since blossoming into a global company with 900+ stores around the world. Ashley's factories produce more than 300,000 pieces of furniture a week, amounting to about 26 million a year. A careful look around Ashley’s Arcadia facilities reveals the recipe for their success, and it is a recipe. Like most modern manufacturers you’ll find a variety of robots, but the company hasn’t found—and aren’t looking for—silver-bullet solutions. Rather, they focus on a model of continuous improvement. It’s the cumulation of these improvements, and a culture that encourages them, that’s fueled their growth and unbroken grip on the #1 ranking. 3D printing, for example, has slowly trickled onto the factory floor, and gradually reorganized manufacturing processes from fabrication to assembly. Watch the video below to learn how Ashley Furniture went from one idea to 700 3D printed parts in [...]
A Closer Look at the HP Jet Fusion 500 Series 3D Printer
Building on the success of the Jet Fusion 4200, the HP Jet Fusion 500 Series 3D Printer is tailored for small to medium-sized development teams looking for a more compact, office-friendly solution. Designed for in-house prototyping and small scale production, these printers can produce fully functional parts with optimal mechanical properties either in vibrant full color or white depending on the printer model. The 500 Series integrates mixing, loading, printing, and reclaiming material in one machine. Upon preparing your build with HP’s software, HP’s High Reusability Nylon 12 Color Boost thermoplastic powder is automatically dispensed, mixed, and delivered to the print area. The powder is spread evenly across the build platform. The print carriage featuring HP Thermal inkjet array passes over the build area depositing fusing, detailing, and coloring agents. During another pass, the area is exposed to infrared energy which fuses the part’s layers together. The build platform is lowered and the process repeats. When printing is complete, ambient air cooling ensures part integrity. There is automated vibration and air flow, and then the machine extracts the unused material from within the build chamber. Unused material is reclaimed inside the chamber for future builds. Throughout the process, material is completely contained within [...]
Cimquest Now Offers Shining 3D Scanners
Cimquest is excited to announce that we are now representing Shining 3D handheld scanners. This new addition to our product lineup offers customers a high-end, handheld scanning solution. There are several different products in this Shining 3D family, but these two give a good example of what the family of products offers and they will be the first ones that Cimquest will have in-house. The Freescan X7 laser scanner provides the accuracy and resolution of competitive handheld scanners but at 60% the cost and virtually identical specifications. The Einscan Pro 2X structured white-light scanners also met the approval of our technical team’s rigorous testing for producing very accurate models with full color-texture support and an extremely competitive price tag. While new scanning technology continues to evolve and is developed or imported into the USA, you can feel confident that Cimquest will review any promising products and make you aware of compelling new capabilities to explore. Please contact Cimquest’s sales team at 866-277-8778 or email sales@cimquest-inc.com to learn more. Please also mark your calendars for Oct. 15-17, 2019, for our xpand3D event, which will be larger and more technology-rich then ever before!!