CAD/CAM focus: CAD/CAM software helps 99-year-old company to bridge the skills gap

摘要

With the traditional engineering skills gained from operating conventional milling machines dying out, WFEL Ltd - a world leader in tactical military bridging - turned to the latest CAD/CAM technology from Edgecam (www.edgecam.com) for a new solution to a machining issue. John Mawdsley, senior manufacturing engineer at WFEL, says that for components manufactured using side and face cutters to produce deep pockets, the company has relied on traditional engineering skills that are no longer 'in vogue'. "As an apprentice, I was trained on conventional turning, milling, grinding and jig boring machines before moving on to their CNC counterparts. Today, everyone is trained only on CNC machines, and the old skills have gone.