CAD/CAM Automation

Our esteemed client from the Netherlands required automation to configure their complex, rule-based modular industrial printing machine for generating quotations and fulfilling orders.

Utilizing Autodesk Inventor and iLogic, we developed a 3D configuration tool with an intuitive UI, enabling users to systematically select the necessary units. The configurator accurately places the 3D models and calculates power and cooling requirements in Excel, determining the supporting equipment, such as chillers and power supplies, linked to the drawing. This automation reduced a manual 24-hour process to just 4 hours!

Our client, New Zealand’s largest manufacturer of conveyor components, tasked us with automating the configuration of their conveyor units and generating/updating the drawings automatically. Using the powerful iLogic for Autodesk Inventor, we developed a configuration tool with a simple UI that allows users to select different options and configurations for an individual conveyor, such as dimensions, rollers, stands, belt types, and more.

The configuration tool automatically generates the drawing for the specified conveyor, making cost estimates and sales quotations in just a few clicks. This configurator uses fully detailed engineering models and reduces the time required to just 20% of the semi-automatic process that preceded this development.

A consultation session with one of our clients to understand how their CAM processes could be made more efficient. That meant shadowing them digitally to better get an idea of the breakdown of time spent on various processes when preparing their parts.

The solution was to use macros to automatically complete those steps that were repetitive and were based on various inputs thus shrinking the time required to process parts during CAM process. Using macros we were able to reduce their 10 step process to 3 step process wherein the macro automatically completed the remaining 7 steps.

Understanding the clients needs for more efficient use of time to get preliminary CADs out for confirmation from the clients for production, we came up with re-usable skeleton CAD designs. This allows customers to see and understand what they would be ordering and give confirmation before detailing those designs to production stage. The result being faster quotes hence shortening the lead times for orders.



These CADs would then be re-used to cater to other client’s requests with similar needs. With para-metrically driven designs, even detail design can be modified in a nick of time to further save design costs.

Every industry that utilizes CAM processes spends a lot of time preparing the CAD for CAM. During our consultation, we understood the issues the client was facing and found a common denominator to all their steps required to recognize the various features their parts had.

Using the information, we developed custom solutions for their software to automatically recognize those repeated features hence drastically reducing the time to generate CNC codes for them to start manufacturing.

We understand the underlying principles of every business which is the maximize efficiency while increasing profit margins. This means every area that exists from concept to assembly requires to be efficient including CAD design.

For this reason we provide standardized libraries consisting for various hardware parts that can be re-used in different designs. This also allows us to program these parts such that once used, they automatically apply cutouts, rivets and fasteners in CAD system relieving designers of valuable time that could be spent on tackling multiple orders at the same time.