Gibbs and Associates, developer of GibbsCAM® software for programming CNC machine tools and a Cimatron company, offer GibbsCAM 2011 with new capabilities especially beneficial for SolidWorks users.
GibbsCAM 2011 is optimized for machining parts designed in SolidWorks® 2011, and is a SolidWorks Certified CAM Partner Product. It further helps SolidWorks 2011 users with its unique interface, which makes CAM software easy to learn and easy to use, with language and icons that manufacturing professionals understand.
Among the many new features of GibbsCAM that conference attendees will see are recognition and preservation of SolidWorks features and colors, and the direct transfer of SolidWorks-wizard-generated holes to the GibbsCAM Hole Manager. Upon opening a SolidWorks model, GibbsCAM 2011 reads model attributes, then recognizes and preserves them as attributes in the GibbsCAM part file. Colors assigned by SolidWorks are preserved as CAD colors in the part file. All holes generated by the SolidWorks hole wizard transfer directly into the GibbsCAM Hole Manager and are automatically recognized. GibbsCAM’s hole wizard has been enhanced and now establishes default values, letting users implement default-based hole-making operations with no more interaction than three mouse clicks.
“We expect that our current and prospective customers will be very pleased with the numerous improvements we have made in the past year, as well as the new enhancements made specifically for SolidWorks interoperability,” said Bill Gibbs, president and founder of Gibbs and Associates. “SolidWorks users will see why GibbsCAM continues to be the best NC programming system available to them, while our joint customers can continue to take advantage of
GibbsCAM 2011’s interoperability with SolidWorks 2011 to accurately open SolidWorks part models, and efficiently use them to generate programs for the simplest and most complex CNC machine tools.”
The combination of GibbsCAM 2011 and SolidWorks 2011 provides a complete CAD/CAM solution for most manufacturing environments. Whether parts have simple geometry needing only 2.5-axis milling or 2-axis turning, or complex geometry requiring use of 5-axis machining, MTM or Swiss-style turning centers, the SolidWorks-GibbsCAM combination accommodates and optimizes the machining process. GibbsCAM verifies the toolpaths with gouge detection and interference checking, then dynamically and visually simulates them on virtual machine tools, and accurately post-processes them to generate optimal NC programs. Multiple GibbsCAM features help users eliminate scrap, reduce cycle times, and maximize efficiency, safety and profits.
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