CAD/CAM automation

Does anyone work with a full CAD/CAM system, and I mean full we are looking at further automating our production which will include automatic storage and picking of materials Beam/panel saw, CNC, etc we are a joiners shop, part of a building company and the workload consists mainly of door sets and cabinetry but we are flexible enough to take on anything. The company has been looking at various software packages, I was hoping to come up with an Autodesk based solution if that is possible, due to the support that is available in forums like this. But if need be does anyone have views on a good package that works well over all aspects of the process from design to ordering to tracing the products.

See how this will work. http://www.autodesk.com/solutions/cad-cam

You might also check out Siemens CAD/CAM solutions. http://www.plm.automation.siemens.com/en_us/

Can I bump this thread, we are getting closer to moving the whole company to new premises, and updating everything, we are looking at many alternatives such as "spazio 3D" "Topsolid" "Imos 3D" "Vlecad", we did contact an Autodesk reseller for more info on their CAD-CAM solutions to be answered with "uhhh! whats that". I would like to hear from anyone that actually uses an automated system in their daily workflow as to what to look out for - problems etc. We are a building company that can be asked to do just about anything. but the majority of the work is cabinets / furniture and door sets, and these other software products all appear to concentrate on cabinetry. I really would like to know how flexible they actually are, for example, when it comes to drawing up concrete form work for a spiral staircase and sending the results to the CNC or beam saw. And how well they work when trying to collaborate with other trades who only use Autocad.

Although I can't help with actual experience of CAD-CAM usage myself I do have a suggestion.

Have you been in touch with any of the companies whose products you are considering to see if they will come and give you an on-site demo?

Some years ago when I was tasked with looking at changing the CAD software that our company used I got 3 or 4 of those being considered to come to us and give me a demo of their software, re-creating from scratch a few of our drawing that I had provided them with.

Their sales teams were quite happy to do this, even though we were only talking about 4 seats.

It gave me a better idea of which was the best for our particular needs.

(In the end I went for Solidworks which they bought 5 seats of, although I had left the company before they actualy changed over).

We started working in Wood CAD CAM (Imos 3d) six mounts ago and there is a lot of work and a lot to be done! We are furniture company - the biggest in my country using 99% melamine and mdf boards. The power is huge, the learning curve very steep but the main factor for success is THE SUPPORT! We are constantly in touch with the support team - 5-6 calls a day! Without them we are lost!

Thanks for the input

Nukecad - yeah we have had demo's from all of them, some twice, but that doesn't show you the bits that are missing just the sales pitch, I'm worried that we will go through a steep learning curve just find out that there are some holes in the software, but they are impressive. We are looking at about the same number of seats. And I have suggested we also keep at least one license of autocad just in case.

dedmin - of those we have seen Imos 3D is my favourite, but others are impressed with the Library of parts and fittings supplied with spazio 3D, I also believe that Imos is programable to some extent, but that is one of the points we still need to figure out.

we have had demo's from all of them, some twice, but that doesn't show you the bits that are missing just the sales pitch,

I know what you mean, their sales demos are very slick to show off what they can do and not perhaps what you need.

(And also gloss over any weakness).

I would send your frontrunner a set of drawings from one of you already completed projects, with a list of what you would require the software to output in what formats, and ask them to do another demo using your stuff not theirs.

You can then compare what you already produce with current software with what theirs can produce.

It's amazing how much time they will spend with you if they think there is a chance of having you as a customer for the next ten years or so.

Hi Steven-g,

This sounds like a great opportunity, while there is an overwhelming choice, it's worth putting the ground work in. Whatever you chose will become the back bone of your company!

IMHO - most of the 'cabinet' creation packages are very good - as long as you only want to build cabinets in the way the software company designs them. On the other extreme you could use software like Autodesk Inventor, which will allow you to model anything, but you have to set it up yourself. It really depends on how much flexibility you want. You may have to chose multiple CAD/CAM tools in order to have the right tool for each job.

Here's a few more suggestions:

Autodesk Inventor with the Woodwork for Inventor Plugin and or HSMworks

Fusion360 with HSMworks

Toposolid

Pytha