Faster, better, cheaper... these are the key challenges in today’s manufacturing environment. Accelerating product development cycles without compromising on quality can be a company’s single biggest competitive advantage. To achieve these goals, SLZ Maschinenbau GmbH relies on seamless CAD/CAM technology for a streamlined manufacturing process to speed up production and get to market faster.

‘From design to manufacture, from concept to finished product all in one solution’ is the philosophy in Hanau. The company behind this mission statement was founded in 1988 as a design and drawing office. In order to optimise the whole process chain and improve an often difficult and potentially error prone interface between design and manufacture, a manufacturing department was added to complement the design side eight years later. Within a year, the first CNC milling machine was installed and since 1999 the company has been working with CAM software.

Today, the company with its 44 staff is based around two equally successful operations: Ingenieurbüro Schönfelder (IBS) – a design consultancy with as team of 20 qualified design engineers who produce their own drawings as well as processing and editing externally created CAD data, and SLZ Maschinenbau GmbH – a manufacturing company producing anything from prototypes and small batch parts to complete assemblies and custom-built machines as one-off products. What starts as a simple drawing on paper or in a CAD system is turned into a high quality finished product, using CAM-driven milling and turning tools. By having both design and manufacturing capabilities under one roof, the company retains full control over the process from start to finish. What was once a traditional design office is now a successful manufacturing company with a highly skilled workforce and an annual turnover of 4.5 million Euros (in 2004). SLZ Maschinenbau GmbH is committed to continued growth through continual technical improvement and the further development of efficient manufacturing techniques.

The company’s customers come from a variety of industries, such as energy, process engineering, packaging for the food industry, as well as special equipment for production plants and automation. To meet the high expectations of its clients and to make the production of small batches more efficient, the company uses a selection of modern, hi-tech milling and drilling machines with driven tooling.

CAD/CAM connectivity is the driver for optimisation
Matthias Zundel and Anton Schönfelder, the co-founders and managing directors of SLZ Maschinenbau GmbH have expanded the company with a vision for the future. Right from the beginning, both engineers have put their faith in advanced CAD design and powerful CAM driven manufacturing and in its drive for continued success, the company has heavily invested in modernisation. The company’s success is based on a simple recipe: to deliver custom-built products from the design concept to the finished article at competitive prices and with a fast turnaround. The main features of the company’s approach are high flexibility and an efficient and effective combination of traditional craftsmanship with cutting edge modern technologies. Process chains are fast and effective, the integration of design and manufacture is seamless.

Set-up and production times are of growing importance for manufacturing companies and suppliers. In turn, powerful yet reliable tools for the programming and optimised usage of modern machine tools are becoming increasingly important. In addition to continued training of operators and increased efficiency, the selection of the right CAD and CAM systems is of critical importance. Efficiency is more than just rationalising working processes and employing a skilled workforce. Qualified staff also need the right tools to work with. With the products the company designs and manufacturers for its customers becoming more and more complex, SLZ Maschinenbau GmbH relies on modern hi-tech tools for both design and manufacture. The company uses a number of CAD systems to create both 2D and 3D models: Pro/ENGINEER, SolidWorks and AutoCAD. CAD data is turned into CNC programs using a CAM system.

Facing the challenges of the future with a new CAM system
As product design and CAD systems evolved, the demands on the CAM system were also growing. SLZ Maschinenbau GmbH have only been working with a CAM system since the late 90s, but it became soon clear that the originally chosen solution was not up to the job in all areas. To support further growth of the business the company therefore decided to purchase a new CAM system. This decision was not taken lightly and it was only after a long and thorough evaluation process that the company selected the new software. To meet the company’s needs the software would have to offer a CAM solution with a wide range of both milling and turning capabilities as well as seamless CAD interoperability. The search was on for a system that would fulfil all criteria of an efficient manufacturing process and offer a solution that would integrate as seamlessly as possible with existing tools and working practises.

For Matthias Zundel, the CAM system is “without a doubt at the heart of the modern manufacturing process“, and the selection of a new CAM system was based on more than just functionality. A key feature in the decision was seamless CAD/CAM interoperability. As already mentioned, SLZ Maschinenbau GmbH work with both externally and internally created CAD data (from simple parts to the most complex assemblies) and just as in their approach to business growth, an integrated, continuous solution was of critical importance when it came to selected the right software. The ability to load data from all major CAD systems (with a special emphasis on SolidWorks) as well as IGES loading capabilities were prerequisites for the new system.

CAD/CAM integration for a faster and seamless route to production
Evaluating EdgeCAM and its EdgeCAM Solid Machinist module, Matthias Zundel was especially impressed by the seamless integration with SolidWorks. With years of experience as a CAM user and even more years as a CAD designer and an “in-built sense of perfection” a whole range of CAM systems were tested thoroughly, and the relevant sales teams grilled with a multitude of sometimes very difficult questions. Team CAMTECH in Remscheid, a German reseller of Pathtrace Engineering Systems from Reading, England performed especially well and demonstrated how easy it was to load a SolidWorks model straight into EdgeCAM Solid Machinist and then straight onto the machine tool. EdgeCAM offers a complete solution for milling and turning, and the capability to load solid models from a variety of CAD systems direct without the need for data translation. Using a totally integrated CAD/CAM approach has since helped the company to avoid costly mistakes and delays. Eliminating data translation that can introduce errors has increased efficiency.

Automatic feature finding and an associative link between the toolpath and the CAD model significantly reduces programming time and helps speed up the manufacturing process, a not unimportant feature for a company such as SLZ Maschinenbau GmbH. When a model is designed in a CAD system, so called features are created that contain data relevant geometry and manufacturing attributes. After the loading the CAD model, these features and all relevant information are transferred into EdgeCAM, where they are used to select the best tools and most efficient machining strategies. The client may only require one single design change, but this can have serious knock on effects. EdgeCAM's toolpath to model associativity has allowed SLZ to react to design changes almost instantly with no adverse effect on manufacturing lead times.

Matthias Zundel was also impressed by the professional approach of both the German and English sales teams. “When faced with our questions, the people at EdgeCAM either had a suitable strategy to offer or are in the process of working on a solution. I like it that the development team at Pathtrace doesn’t claim to have invented the wheel; but at the same time everything possible is done to be at the forefront of CAM development”.

High performance software that’s easy to use
To a large degree, efficient CAM programming depends on how easy the system is to learn and to use. The transition period from the old (Virtual Gibbs) to the new CAM system was easier than anticipated. Since the purchase of the first seat in 2004 all CAM tasks have been solved with EdgeCAM. The software is used on a number of modern machines and controls at SLZ Maschinenbau GmbH, for both turning with driven tooling and milling applications. For milling, the software is used on Mikron WF 31C and WF 41 C machines with a Heidenhain TNC 155 control, on a Mikron WF 32C with TNC 407, a Mikron VCE 1200 pro with TNC 426, and on a brand new Alzmetall GS 800/3 machine tool with an iTNC 530 control. For turning, the company uses a Gildemeister CTX 400 S2 V3 with Heidenhain CNC Pilot 4290, and a HwaCheon 21 HS with a Fanuc 18T control. Materials cut range from stainless steel to aluminium, plastics and even graphite.

SLZ Maschinenbau GmbH approached the move to a new CAM system very carefully but within a very short period of time EdgeCAM has become an integral part of the operation. The introduction of EdgeCAM has seen the quality of the finished products improve and has brought considerable time gains, for example using EdgeCAM’s advanced roughing cycle. The roughing cycle automatically applies the most efficient approach move for each region of the model and creates trochoidal moves to avoid full width cuts. In addition, the cycle automatically adjusts the toolpath for efficient and safe machining, improving cutting conditions and allowing higher machining speeds to be maintained. This lead to improved safety when machining and reduced programming times. A good example of the effective use of EdgeCAM according to Matthias Zundel is this prototype, to be used for injection moulding.

The high, thin “ridge” could only be machined using EdgeCAM’s advanced roughing functionality as it was necessary - when lacing such high and thin contours - to use a defined radial approach for the last cut (e.g. 5%). “This may well be possible with other CAM systems”, says Matthias Zundel. “But only with EdgeCAM could this be done safely and without any time-consuming fiddling”. The most fascinating thing for Matthias Zundel was “that a machine like the Alzmetall GS800 and EdgeCAM one minute race through machining with an unbelievable cutting volume, and the next minute you can be working on such a small, detailed part with equal precision and high quality. Everything is as accurate as it can possibly be. This can only be achieved if every bit of the chain fits a hundred percent”. In this case, the chain is Solid Works - EdgeCAM - Alzmetall GS 800.

An integrated approach is the key to success
Wherever you look at SLZ Maschinenbau GmbH, you will come across the subject of interaction, partnership and cooperation. Interaction of CAD and CAM systems, interaction of the different departments within the company, and also interaction with customers. “Many of our customers have their own design department and use us as a kind of backup, as they know they can also rely on us as a drawing office. For some customers we just manufacture parts or assemblies, without any design input on our part, but they still appreciate our constructive thinking.” The company relies on tools that permit this kind of coherent approach and make data dissemination and sharing easier, both within the company and between the company and its suppliers and customers.

The company purposefully employs a combination of hi-tech and proven production techniques in parallel. No matter how small the batch, the aim is to produce accurate parts quickly and at a competitive price. At the same time, the company is keen to maintain the investment power of both customers and suppliers and to support the creation of jobs in Germany. “Quality has its price, but at the same time you can work as competitively and effectively as possible”, explains Matthias Zundel. This goal is achieved by using safe and reliable machining processes, short setup times, powerful machine tools and motivated staff.

Cooperation is also a key issue when it comes to the relationship with the CAM supplier. “The CAM system is without a doubt at the heart of a modern CNC manufacturing process”, explains Matthias Zundel. “We are completely dependent on this important production tool and – with Pathtrace and CAMTECH – we have found the right partners. It is important that the CAM developer continuously invests in new developments and enhancements.” In the age of e-communication geographical proximity is often deemed to be less important, but especially in the first phase of using a new product with potential teething problems it is critical that support can be provided locally. “The long and the short of it: Without a German reseller, we would not have bought the system”, summarises Matthias Zundel.
Streamlining the process
The outlook for the future is optimistic. The team at SLZ Maschinenbau GmbH has long understood that in order to survive the company has to grow. Approaches and working methods are constantly changing in the industry, and the ability to adapt to these changes is becoming ever more crucial. Currently, the whole gamut of three milling axes is used to its full potential but the company is already preparing for the next big step, simultaneous 5 axis milling. To that end, the company not only purchased a new CAM system in 2004 but also a brand new machine tool, an Alzmetall GS800 with five axis capabilities. Now the company is looking forward to the next version of the EdgeCAM software that will allow them to take full advantage of multi-axis machine capabilities and bring even more manufacturing contracts into the company. Everyone talks about getting to market faster. With its latest hi-tech machine tools and software, SLZ Maschinenbau GMBH has the technology to make it happen.

A strategy for the future
A further area for development that Matthias Zundel has a keen interest in is the use of EdgeCAM Strategy Manager. This EdgeCAM module offers a knowledge-based feature oriented method of programming CNC machines that streamlines and automates the programming process for more efficient and more effective manufacturing, an approach that is close to the heart of Matthias Zundel. At the core of EdgeCAM Strategy Manager is an easy to use, graphical flow chart that represents the logic of the machining strategies, a diagram of operational sequences taken from preferred methods and the machining capability to produce a part. EdgeCAM Strategy Manager builds on the intelligence of EdgeCAM Solid Machinist to offer true knowledge-based machining. However, it extends the feature based approach of EdgeCAM Solid Machinist and combines this with the knowledge and experience of the skilled engineers on the shop floor. Machining methods are kept consistent, best practices maximized within the organization. This fits in perfectly with the SLZ approach. “If you think the system itself provides the knowledge you are making a big mistake. The first step in the streamlining process is the expert knowledge of the engineers, and the second step is to capture this knowledge. This will allow us to use EdgeCAM Strategy Manager for a wide range of even complex parts, not just run of the mill standard parts”.

True to the company’s mission statement, the focus of SLZ Maschinenbau GmbH’s integrated approach is always the customer. Employing highly efficient working methods and carefully tuned machines and software offers the company a faster route from concept to finished product.

For more information about SLZ Maschinenbau GmbH visit www.ib-schoenfelder.de.