GD&T Headaches to Disappear for Machinists?

“Machine to the Mean” promises to transform how design tolerances are converted for use in CNC programming.

I don’t know about you, but the idea of having to sit down and calculate mean tolerances for a stack of components isn’t really my cup of tea. Sure, the math isn’t that hard, but the monotony of the activity and the related stress can be a huge burden. For example, if I miscalculate even one of these tolerances, I’d potentially kill the stack and perhaps ruin the entire production run.

Well, in a recent statement, Geometric may have a solution. It has announced that beginning in the second quarter of 2016, its CAMWorks 2016 software will be packaged with a transformative new automated technology called “Machine to the Mean.”

According to the CAM company, users working with SOLIDWORKS files will be able to rely on CAMWorks software to automatically calculate the mean tolerances used to build toolpaths in their CAM projects. Put simply, this new feature will be a humongous timesaver for machinists and engineers in the throes of designing a product.

“Every part or assembly that has tolerances designed for specific functional requirements . . . require tolerance specifications that have different upper and lower or asymmetric limits,” explained Jim Foster, a vice president at Geometric. “This has long caused extra work for manufacturing professionals because parts are machined to a nominal dimension . . . . For years, CNC programmers have had to manually calculate mean dimensions and tolerances and then offset edges and surfaces in the manufacturing model or rebuild 3D parts to take this into account, a practice that is time consuming and prone to error.”

If “Machine to the Mean” is as good as advertised, it could be a killer app that converts users by the thousands simply because of its undeniable value. For the team at CAMWorks, a SOLIDWORKS Certified Gold partner, that could be a huge win. But, honestly, the real winners in this announcement may very well be Dassault Systèmes SOLIDWORKS. Dassault Systèmes is sure to be pleased that a third party has just added a compelling new reason why its CAD package should be chosen over competitors in the MCAD landscape.

Again, it appears the Dassault Systèmes’ partnership strategy is paying robust dividends. As the most used CAD package on the market, it’s a fair guess that those returns will continue to boost SOLIDWORKS’ leadership in the MCAD market.