Editor’s Pick: CAM Express with ST Speeds CAM Data Prep

By Anthony J. Lockwood

Dear Desktop Engineering Reader:

With little fanfare, Siemens PLM Software (Plano, TX) rolled out a new version of its CAM Express with Synchronous Technology the other day. CAM Express is the manufacturing component of the company’s Velocity Series, which,  to make a long story short, is a suite of applications spanning CAD, analysis,  manufacturing, and data management. Synchronous Technology, again making a long story short, blends the power of constraint-driven techniques with direct modeling,  letting you work on models, imported or native, as they need to be worked on. This has all sorts of benefits for manufacturing.

For one, CAM Express with Synchronous Technology means a new day in the shop when it comes to interoperability. Synchronous Technology will enable CAM Express to import CAD files from some modeler then infer design intent and CAD features easily and readily. The hidden benefit here is that CAM mavens will be able to order manufacturing geometry with the power of a history tree and with the flexibility of direct modeling.

Two, workflow should speed up due to interoperability advancements inherent in Synchronous Technology. You will not, for example,  have to know how every CAD modeler your clients may use works. More importantly,  you will have the ability to make the model changes that need to be done to move a part through its manufacturing process. What this means is that there could be no more delays refreshing a model or reviving a fainted client after you explain that you need them to “fix” a design sequence so that you can machine the part.

Look, I’ve got to be honest with you about the benefits of CAM Express with Synchronous Technology: Don’t know; I’m guessing. What I do know is that Synchronous Technology is a game changer at its initial stage of changing how you work. Engineers and technicians will take the power of CAM Express with Synchronous Technology and change everything we think we know about CAM.

When the home microcomputer came out long ago, everyone spoke of possibilities — digital checkbook ledgers, recipe banks, well-ordered address books, whoopee! No one but easily dismissed nutjobs imagined things like the Internet or how our lifestyle would become microcomputer-based. Disruptive technologies are like that, which is probably why Siemens PLM Software was so uncharacteristically understated in its announcement of CAM Express with Synchronous Technology. It’s not sure either.

So, here’s what I recommend. Hit the links in today’s Pick of the Week write-up and see CAM Express with Synchronous Technology in action. Then imagine the possibilities.

Thanks, Pal. — Lockwood

Anthony J. Lockwood

Editor at Large, Desktop Engineering Magazine