Tiếng ViệtMurata Machinery is a Japanese manufacturer specializing in lathes and sheet metal processing machines. Since 2020, they have enhanced their CAD/CAM software for these machines by incorporating BricsCAD® functionality as add-ons, significantly improving efficiency in CAM data preparation. Currently, they are developing a batch-processing system using 3D data.
Murata Machinery began manufacturing textile machinery in 1935 and has since expanded into five divisions and six fields, providing a wide range of machinery and solutions to support its customers’ manufacturing and business needs. As a Japanese industrial machinery manufacturer, they produce a wide range of equipment, including textile machinery, logistics and factory automation systems, machine tools, sheet metal processing machines, communication equipment, and clean room conveyance systems.
In 2020, the company released an add-on using BricsCAD®, utilizing features such as BricsCAD Mechanical’s sheet metal design and shape recognition. Continuing from this add-on, Murata Machinery is developing a fully automated system for generating production data from CAD designs and sending it directly to processing machines, with testing currently underway at their factory.
The Challenge
Murata Machinery aimed to reduce the workload for users of their sheet metal processing machines by minimizing the human input required to convert CAD design data to processing data, ultimately striving for a completely automated workflow. This includes complex ETL processing of the data with extraction, conversion, and export.
As Masafumi Nakaseko, Assistant Manager of the Metal Forming Department, Machine Tool Division, explains:
“Creating a designed shape in sheet metal involves combining processes like cutting, drilling, and bending, which requires expert judgment and operation. This has been a barrier to productivity improvement. We’ve developed software by leveraging our accumulated expertise as a processing machine manufacturer to address this issue.”
The Solution
To advance optimization and efficiency, Murata Machinery developed software to minimize setup time for sheet metal processing machines. Their CAMPATH G4 Advanced software handles blanking processes (cutting material, drilling holes, etc.), while CAMPATH Bend Ark is used for bending processes. Murata Machinery has improved efficiency by using its own open interface SCPX file format and linking with various CAD software that supports output in this format.
Murata Machinery chose BricsCAD for its superior CAM data preparation functionality. As Tatsuki Hashimoto, Manager of the Control Systems Development Department, Machine Tools Division, explains:
“In the past, we added proprietary sheet metal design capabilities to commercial CAD software. However, as commercial CAD software advanced, we shifted to leveraging these improved functions to generate processing data that maximizes our machines’ performance.”
Implementation
From 2018 to 2019, Murata Machinery developed and perfected their BricsCAD application, releasing it in 2020. The company utilized Communicator for BricsCAD to import various mechanical CAD data and BricsCAD Mechanical to recognize sheet metal shapes from 3D CAD models, with the SMCONVERT feature. BricsCAD’s user-friendly development environment and royalty-free distribution of add-ons facilitated this process.
“Communicator for BricsCAD is useful for importing data from various mechanical CAD software. Mechanical was a key factor because of its good recognition of sheet metal shapes from models, designed as 3D CAD solid shapes, its friendly add-in development environment, and the fact that no royalties are required to distribute the add-ins developed. We also thought that by registering barring, louvers, embossing, and other shapes in block form as symbols, we could facilitate automation,” says Mr. Hashimoto.
Results
By leveraging BricsCAD’s parametric blocking feature, PARAMETRICBLOCKIFY, Murata Machinery has streamlined operations, reducing the need for manual adjustments and increasing operational efficiency. They have established design rules and templates to ensure the automatic recognition function works effectively, which benefits both design and manufacturing with reduced workloads and improved efficiency.
“We have established design rules to ensure that the automatic recognition function works properly and have prepared the necessary templates to facilitate the generation of machining data. Although these rules increase the workload on the design side, we have gained acceptance on both the design and manufacturing by explaining the benefits, such as reduced workload on the manufacturing side, improved total operational efficiency, and shorter delivery times,” says Mr. Hashimoto.
Future Development
Murata Machinery continues to develop and verify their automated solution, aiming for full automation in their 24-hour operational factory. Mr. Nakaseko notes:
“The quick delivery system used in the Inuyama Plant’s sheet metal manufacturing department achieves high-mix, low-volume production with short delivery times. By fully automating using SCPX with BricsCAD, we achieve short delivery times and improve customer satisfaction.”
To see how BricsCAD® can support your company’s success, download a free 30-day trial today.
Source: Bricsys
