GibbsCAM Success Stories
Many of our customers have experienced dramatic gains in productivity and significant cost savings. Take a look for yourself and experience what GibbsCAM can do for you!
Spinal Fusion Cages
Mendell, Inc. has come a long way since its founding in 1965. Their growth is related to having good employee knowledge of medical device manufacturing, being meticulous about accuracy, being driven to get things done, and having a speedy design-to-production process.
Making Music in Metal
As Seen in CNC-West April/May 2010 Issue
Most contract manufacturers are generally satisfied to produce high-quality products on time to customer specifications and at a profit. At Goleta, CA’s 66-year-old Neal Feay Company, however, one additional major requirement has been added.
Shop Delivers for Urgent Need
Reprinted from the March 2010 Production Machining Magazine
Sometimes the need for one shop to turn a job around in a matter of days is brought on by the failure of another shop to deliver on its much longer production schedule. EMC Precision Machining (Elyria, Ohio) delivers in these situations, taking on jobs that other shops have not been able to complete in time
VoluMill Gives 10x Feedrate for Performance
Performance Tool and Die (PTD), a leading tooling provider for the automotive, agriculture, and recreation industries, was looking for ways to decrease forces on the material during cutting, increase tool life, and reduce cycle time—seemingly contradictory objectives.
Multitasking Software Turns A Profit
Reprinted from Manufacturing Engineering, October 2009
Paul Precision Machine (Tulsa, OK) investigated and purchased GibbsCAM for use on their Doosan turning centers. With software and machines working together, they wanted to remove wasted labor and make parts in a single-machine operation.
Programming MTM Machines with Integrated Synchronization and Simulation
Reprinted from American Machinist, June 2009
In collaboration with software developer Gibbs and Associates, the Mori Seiki laboratories ensured that the popular GibbsCAM software could go beyond programming the Mori Seiki NT and NZ multi-tasking machines upon their introductions.
Mission To Mars: CAM System Aids Rover Production
Reprinted from Modern Machine Shop, July 2009
As a supplier to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Next Intent manufactured components for robotic vehicles that have been exploring the surface of Mars. GibbsCAM CAM software played an important role in the shop’s ability to machine these vehicles’ complex components.
One-Part Solution with Huge Payoff Happy Marriage: Art and Machining
Reprinted from Production Machining
Machine shops prioritize different challenges daily, but some challenged are more critical than others. Precise Products Corporation (Minneapolis) was faced with a challenge when one of its original customers asked the company to reduce the cost of a family of parts or risk losing the job.
They Don’t Crash at Nash
Reprinted from Tooling & Production, January/February 2009
Multi-axis machining is so different from 3-axis machining at times that it can be daunting. ANorth Carolina community college is teaching that the costs and fears can be overcome with training, simple modification to 3-axis machines and simulation software.
Taking Risk Out of Oil Industry Machining
Reprinted from Manufacturing Engineering, February 2009
By late 2001, High Tech Components (Broussard, LA) had several manual machines and three CNC machines, where it faced new challenges related to programming. The CNCs had to be programmed manually, making complex parts cumbersome to program.
CAM For Multitasking Operations
Reprinted from Production Machining, March 2009
While Accutech Machine’s (Salt Lake City) new Mori Seiki multitasking NT has provided notable production advantages, it’s the preliminary programming work that Steve Russell (programmer and machine operator) does in GibbsCAM that really makes this machine the success it is for the company.
CAM System Eliminates Operations on Big Parts
Reprinted from Modern Machine Shop, November 2008
Rather than complicated geometry or other production issues, the greatest difficulties at Bucyrus International (Milwaukee, WI) often involve setup and changeover between operations—the actual moving and positioning of these monstrous workpieces.
At Big Dog, They´re Big on GibbsCAM
Reprinted from American Machinist, September 2008
In a private garage in Burbank, Calif., three people repair, restore and maintain a fleet of vehicles for a well-known motoring enthusiast. This is Big Dog Garage, The Tonight Show Host Jay Leno’s passion and playground, where his crew keeps vehicles roadworthy.
Shop Races Ahead Using Cam Software
Reprinted from Production Machining, August 2008
In 2001, after moving to a new facility and having success with its lathe and elementary software, Robby Gordon’s SR Machining (Anaheim, CA) purchased a mill. To drive it, and allow for future expansion, they chose the lathe and four-axis mill modules of GibbsCAM from Gibbs and Associates.
Going Nuclear
Reprinted from Machining Magazine, July/August 2008
GibbsCAM (and a 21-tool, 3-axis Fanuc Robodrill CNC machining center) are featured and credited for the machining of over 30 assemblies from 6061-T65 aluminum billet, many of them prominent in the award-winning ’67 Mustang Reactor.
Job Shop Growth on Software, Systems
Reprinted from Manufacturing Engineering, May 2008
With a used Fadal 4020 HT, a Haas 20 × 50 VF4, JobBoss , QuickBooks and GibbsCAM Cobalt Enterprises started machining in September 2004. By the end of December, Cobalt had done $69,000 in business, and was moving fast.
The Second Time Around
Reprinted from CNC-West, February/March 2008 Issue
David Jordan of Inverse Solutions, Inc. (Pleasanton, CA) went looking for software that could read a solid, and program directly from the solid. “It had to be easy to learn,” he says. “Another big thing for me at the time was what kind of support we could get.”
Winning In the Clutch
Reprinted from Tooling & Production, September 2007
To handle new jobs, Chris Nachtmann learned NC programming with the aid of GibbsCAM Production Mill. “It was easy to learn, and helped me save the business,” acknowledges Nachtmann. “I learned to model and machine everything with wire-frame geometry and really cranked out parts.”
Necessity is the Mother of Trunnions
Reprinted from Modern Applications News, September 2007
Star Metal Products (Westlake, OH) needed the accuracy of a horizontal CNC, but found the cost prohibitive. The company thought a trunnion added to its VMC would provide the rotary capability with the trunnion supported on both ends. It turned out the firm was more than 10 years ahead of its time.
Shop Survives by Taking on the Difficult Work
Reprinted from Machining, July/August 2007
In 2000, Blue Chip (Ramsey, MN) had taken on the job of developing a machining process for a boat propeller manufacturer. “I knew we could do the job,” says Founder Rick Denny, “but we needed an advanced CAM system to handle the surface machining. That’s why we decided to purchase GibbsCAM.”
Reverse Engineering Paves the Way
Reprinted from Modern Machine Shop, March 2007
When the rocker arm on a Harley-Davidson Knucklehead motorcycle engine broke, it became apparent to Apex CNC (Morgan City, LA) that it would have to reverse engineer the entire line to produce the parts on modern equipment.
CAM Programming Meets Need for Speed
Reprinted from Modern Machine Shop, March 2007
Ed Pink Racing Engines (EPRE; Van Nuys, CA) purchased a VF3 VMC from Haas Automation Inc. with Haas CNC control to help them manufacture parts on a timely and consistent basis. In order to take full advantage of the machine, they needed the right software.
Polaris Industries Hits the Jackpot
Reprinted from Machining, April 2006
Engineers and designers at Polaris Industries (Medina, MN) develop their designs in Parametric Technology Corps (PTC) Pro/Engineer software and then hand them off to the development machinist in the fabrication shop, who is responsible for making the designs a reality using GibbsCAM.
Machinist, Heal Thyself
Reprinted from CNC-West, Feb/Mar 2006
Rick Harp—founder-president of Carlsbad, CA’s Innovative Medical Designs Inc., a company that designs and produces tools for use by the medical device industry—literally took the admonition, “Physician, heal thyself,” to heart.
Software Unleashes Multitasking Machine´s Potential
by Leo Rakowski, Editor (Production Machining November/December 2004)
Since Pacific Tool Inc. (Redmond, Washington) opened its doors in the late 1960s, the tool and die shop has built a reputation for its ability to handle jobs involving multiple machining operations.The multiple operations typically required several setups on several different machine tools. Setup costs were tolerable when they could be spread over large job runs, but in recent years the shop has seen a dramatic decline in average order size. Customers began placing smaller orders on a more frequent basis. The smaller orders resulted in a greater number of setups, which dragged down uptime on the shop´s machines. The company was not about to turn its back on the multiple-operation jobs that were its specialty. However, it needed to reduce setups to remain competitive....
New Software Technologies Make Faster, Better, Cheaper a Reality
by Mitchell T. Bossart, Author (Moldmaking Technology Magazine, March 2005)
Ed Ingram started Plasticraft Manufacturing in 1972 as a small plastic molding
facility, and today it employs more than 120 people in its 175,000-square
foot Alabama facility—running three shifts five days a week. A newer
plant in Iowa, created primarily to better service a key customer, employs
an additional 40 people. The company does the majority of its work for the
office furniture industry, designing and building nearly 80 percent of its
molds in-house. However, there was a time when Plasticraft had a large and
profitable business in the power tool industry. Then, out of the blue, the
power tool industry moved 95 percent of its work to China, virtually overnight.
