The ESPRIT CAM & Smart Manufacturing seminar hosted by DP Technology in Beijing, China on September 22, 2016 was a great success.

DP Technology along with the College of Electromechanical Engineering at Beijing Union University and the Beijing Intelligent Mechanical Innovative Design Engineering Research Center hosted the ESPRIT CAM & Smart Manufacturing seminar on September 22, 2016.

DP Technology joined the College of Electromechanical Engineering at Beijing Union University and the Beijing Intelligent Mechanical Innovative Design Engineering Research Center to host the ESPRIT CAM & Smart Manufacturing seminar in Beijing on September 22, 2016. The seminar brought into focus the most critical manufacturing topics in China today in order to better support the ten-year national plan, Made in China 2025. The Made in China 2025 program promotes the transfer into smart manufacturing, improves applications in smart manufacturing and fosters the next generation in a wide array of manufacturing industries. The event was attended by more than 60 people from local manufacturing companies, universities and members of the press. The seminar was a joint speaking engagement for outstanding businessmen and technicians. It featured many topics to support attendees and ESPRIT users on their path to success, including Industry 4.0, smart manufacturing, manufacturing automation and the partnership between industry and academia.

Guang Cheng, Dean of College of Electromechanical Engineering of Beijing Union University, addressed the current status and major trends in the future of smart manufacturing from historical, conceptual and practical aspects. Mr. Cheng stated that the College of Electromechanical Engineering is committed to developing high quality application engineers with an international point of view. He also stated that, “We would like to facilitate cooperation with DP Technology to further the development of smart manufacturing. The current research focus of Beijing Intelligent Mechanical Innovative Design Engineering Research Center covers a wide range of smart manufacturing technologies, including prototype design and manufacturing, human-machine interaction and usability testing, and smart manufacturing and service.”

“With more than thirty years’ experience, ESPRIT CAM is the only software which is capable of supporting B-axis multi-tasking, 2-5 axis milling, 2-22 axis turning and 2-22 axis, Wire EDM and offers a platform which gives users customized solutions through any object-oriented programming language. With customers across the world, ESPRIT CAM has been applied in a wide range of industries, including aeronautics and astronautics, automotive, industrial machinery, education, medical machinery, energy and so on. In order to provide better service to customers, DP Technology operates sales and technical support centers in multiple locations: Beijing, Tianjin and Guangzhou in order to provide high performance professional and efficient services. DP Technology also adds value to education in China as a part of their ongoing commitment to support the ‘Made in China 2025’ plan. For many years DP Technology has partnered with higher education institutions, technical middle schools, technical high schools, and technical colleges. DP Technology works hand in hand with local schools and colleges to create certification and training centers and to help build the education revolution in China. DP Technology will be an official and major sponsor of the 7th National Vocational Students Skills Competition- CNC machining contest and will also provide technical support at the event. To sponsor the biggest machining contest in China, DP Technology is taking a proactive approach in engaging with the stakeholders in these industries, but also shows the capability and determination to support the Made in China 2025 plan “, said Mike Lauer, General Manager at DP Asia-Pacific.

In the seminar, David Zhang, vice General Manager in DP China, and Cliff Ji, sales engineer in DP North China also shared the most up to date CNC technology in ESPRIT CAM. “With a continuing thirst for new technology in the modern industry, CNC manufacturing has become popular in many areas. ESPRIT CAM is able to provide a complete package for customer’s manufacturing solutions in many different industries. In addition, ESPRIT CAM is compliant with IoT and the Industry 4.0 initiative. In this way, ESPRIT CAM not only provides users a new concept of automatic machining but also reduces the programming time with easy operations for high quality parts. As a global CAD/CAM company, DP Technology believes that through the cooperation with educational institutions, they have the power to improve manufacturing in China. DP Technology has always been committed to being the world’s leading CAD/CAM technology to college educators and students, specifically when multi-tasking machining with high-speed cutting. Introducing CAD/CAM technologies also helps provide high-end technical personnel to the industry. While we have been in this game for a long time, we will never stop learning and improving upon our cooperation with academia.” said David Zhang.

Cliff Ji also shared several benefits of ESPRIT CAM in the seminar.
1. ESPRIT CAM offers customized solutions for any type of machine tool to cut parts with any shape of geometry
2. ESPRIT CAM provides edit-free post processors with accurate G-code
3. ESPRIT CAM’s full machine simulation prevents machines from collisions
4. ESPRIT CAM is a cloud-enabled CAM to simplify the selection of cutting tools and automatically obtain the recommended ones.

In the seminar, application engineers from DP Technology also demonstrated ESPRIT CAM’s multi-tasking and 5-axis capabilities with ease to allow attendees to experience the power of the innovative ESPRIT CAM software.

The manufacturing industry has evolved into a new generation with automation, numerical control and smart manufacturing. DP Technology continues to improve their technologies by watching new cutting edge developments in the manufacturing industry, fulfilling customer requirements, and providing innovative solutions to improve product quality, productivity and reduce production cost.

Camarillo, Calif. CAM industry innovator DP Technology Corp. has announced a new version of its pioneering flagship product ESPRIT 2016.

ESPRIT 2016 features a new innovative high speed lathe roughing strategy, called ProfitTurning that implements ESPRIT’s new Physics-Based Cutting Engine. While traditional cutting strategies only consider the geometry of the part, ProfitTurning creates

the toolpath considering multiple cutting factors and machine characteristics that impact machining performance. “ESPRIT 2016’s ProfitTurning remarkably improves chip control on hard materials, such as Titanium and Inconel. In addition, ProfitTurning reduces irregular cutting forces and vibration tendencies. The net result is a drastic reduction in cycle time, up to 50% more compared to traditional cutting methods”, said Cedric Simard, Global Marketing & Communication Director at DP Technology.

Simulation speed also plays a pivotal role in CAM software and ESPRIT continues to be at the forefront of accelerating simulation without compromising accuracy or stability. ESPRIT 2016 includes increased simulation speed and higher quality surface finishing saving the user valuable time.
Advanced Tool Settings in ESPRIT 2016 provide CAM programmers enhanced tool management solutions. Additional Barrel Tool Support has also been extended to cover more 5-axis and 3-axis cutting cycles. Furthermore, Cloud-Enabled ESPRIT supports the MachiningCloud APP, which enables users to retrieve ideal cutting tool solutions and import them directly into ESPRIT with ease.

ESPRIT 2016 also features enhanced CAD recognition functions to correct and detect any acute unseen defects in imported CAD models. In addition, users can now edit or remove fillets or even extract a spine curve from fillets as a tool drive curve in machining operations. The new Hole Feature Recognition features in ESPRIT 2016 include automatically recognizing different types of complex holes and names them accordingly. ESPRIT also measures the curvature angle of open holes, making complex drilling operations more accurate and productive.

Wire EDM improvements in ESPRIT 2016 make rough cutting easier and prolong tool life. The Optional Cut-Off Clearance in ESPRIT specifies additional clearance for cut-off moves to reduce the amount of grinding required. Another new Wire-EDM feature is the Optimize First Cut-Off, which protects the wire from rethreading where there is no pre-drilled thread hole.

Fluid 5-axis features in ESPRIT 2016 eliminates unwanted plunge-type moves in Swarf cycles, and smooths any concealed defects in Spiral Finishing part surfaces. The feed rate of Spiral Roughing can now also be increased for non-cutting moves to save cutting time. ESPRIT 2016 accelerates machining with increased simulation speed and innovative cutting strategies that save users programming time and optimize profits.

CAM industry innovator DP Technology Corp. is pleased to announce the release of a new version of its pioneering flagship product ESPRIT® 2015. ESPRIT helps increase productivity for a full range of machine tool applications by generating more efficient toolpaths while also saving time by providing substantial improvements in computer numerical control (CNC) programming productivity.

Besides increasing productivity, the release also provides many new and improved features specifically in the areas of intelligent machining, strategic machining, CAD-CAM data exchange and Cloud-Enabled CAM.

Intelligent Machining
Intelligent machining features in ESPRIT 2015 accelerates the machining process by providing new and unique 5-Axis cycles that reduce cycle time. This makes it possible to completely machine blades in a single setup. ESPRIT’s 5-Axis Blade Roughing tool motion is morphed across the blade from any size stock shape to uniformly offset stock allowance so it can be immediately followed by a finishing cycle.

“ESPRIT 2015 offers unique features in 5-axis to make complex machining more efficient, allowing users to have more tool path options with features like blade roughing and chamfering.” said Cedric Simard, Global Marketing & Communication Director of DP Technology. “ESPRIT 2015 blade roughing enables users to remove material down to uniform stock around the blade and eliminates the need to follow semi-finish cycles. Users in the aerospace, energy, medical and automotive industries will benefit the most from these time-saving operations for precision parts.”

The Port Roughing cycle, another intelligent machining improvement in ESPRIT 2015, is a brand new 5-Axis cycle. It creates a 5-axis roughing operation to remove the material inside an area where the tool must enter through a restricted opening. The shape of the toolpath is an offset of the port surfaces, starting at the surface and proceeding inward at a constant stepover.

Productivity Boost
ESPRIT 2015 also includes features that increase machining productivity. The new Bottom Up roughing strategy helps take ESPRIT’s ProfitMilling high speed material removal cycle to the next level. The new Bottom Up strategy lets you attain a small residual stock height during the stock removal process. Even more, it can be combined with ProfitMilling – our unique high-speed machining roughing technology – for a major improvement in overall productivity. ProfitMilling optimizes toolpaths with engagement angle, chip load, lateral cutter force and material removal rate to massively reduce cycle time and increase tool life.

Strategic machining
The strategic machining capabilities of ESPRIT 2015 have been expanded with completely redesigned stock automation capabilities for multi-tasking machines with mill, turn and drill capabilities. Available for the Facing, Contouring and Pocketing milling cycles, the new stock automation function maintains awareness of the stock removed by previous operations to generate cutting passes only in areas where stock remains. This function greatly reduces air cutting which in turn drastically reduces cycle time.

Additional strategic machining improvements have been made by providing support for slot mill tools in the Port Milling and Composite cycles. Slot mill tools save machining time on operations as tee-slotting and square shoulder milling and their geometry generates lower cutting forces in soft materials and unstable setups which increases tool life. Barrel-shaped cutters are now supported in 5-Axis Blade and Composite cycles. Barrel-shaped cutters provide a much better surface finish than ball end mills because their geometry provides a larger effective radius of engagement, resulting in smaller cusps between toolpaths.

CAD to CAM
New data exchange features in ESPRIT 2015 make it easier ever before to move information from your CAD system into the CAM environment. Three new geometry types — sketches, feature profiles and curves — are now available through ESPRIT FX data exchange from Dassault Systemes CATIA, Parametric Technology Pro/ENGINEER and Siemens NX/UG. The additional information obtained from these geometry types can be easily manipulated to cover complex areas for roughing operations or extend surfaces to get a better finish on edges.

ESPRIT 2015 provides another important improvement to shorten programming time by increasing the accuracy of automated feature recognition. The enhanced Auto Chain support for solid faces, loops and edges lets you create chain features directly on solid models. In addition, a redesigned wall feature recognition command automatically recognizes the upper and lower limits of walls, even tapered walls, in a solid model.

Cloud-Enabled CAM
ESPRIT 2015 allows you to select tools based on the features of your parts in minutes — saving you the drudgery of flipping through catalogs to find ideal tooling. With the ESPRIT MachiningCloud Connection, programmers have access to complete and up-to-date tooling product data, cutting hours of programming time by eliminating manual tool creation. ESPRIT 2015 simplifies the selection of cutting tools and automatically obtains the recommended ones.

About ESPRIT
ESPRIT is a high-performance computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) system for a full range of machine tool applications. ESPRIT delivers powerful full-spectrum programming for 2–5 axis milling, 2–22 axis turning, 2–5 axis wire EDM, multitasking mill-turn machining and B-axis machine tools, and high-speed 3- and 5-axis machining.

How has the journey been for DP Technology?
DP Technology was started in 1982 with an aim to provide simple solutions to the complex machining operations. We (Paul and his partner Daniel Frayssinet who is currently CEO of the company) had realised the need for user friendly CAM software when CNC technology was taking its baby steps in the market. Infact the name DP from our company name ‘DP Technology Corp’ stands for our first name Daniel and Paul.

The three words that characterise DP Technology is passion, vision and commitment. Back in 1982, when the concept of CNC was very new and there were no simple solutions for programming machine tools, we had an idea and that’s how it all began. Our passion for the technology has kept us going for years. We also have a very passionate team and many of them have been with us for more than 15 years. Our associate team in India is also very energetic and this is one of the most important factor that has helped us grow.

When it comes to vision, ours is to be the technology leader. Throughout our journey we have had many firsts and intend to continue with the good work. We were the first during mid 90s to come up with pure windows based software. In early 2000, we saw a new trend, multitasking machining, multitasking function, mill turn machine. None of our competitors saw that but we immediately started developing software capability and rewriting software so that you can make milling and turning programme in same software. It was very difficult task; all our competitors had separate software for milling and turning operation. But today it paid off, today we are the leaders in mill-turn multitasking machining.

Coming to commitment. We believe in either giving our best or don’t do it at all. We had given the same kind of commitment to the Indian market. We are present in India since the late 90s, The country holds huge opportunity for CAM providers. Before focusing on selling more we invested in service and training. We did all this for free to satisfy our customer. We have bigger ambition for India and we are here to stay, even after I retire (chuckles). We will be here serving our Indian customers closely.

What are the changes that you have observed in CAM industry? How has the technology evolved?
The development of high-end machines has always been the driving force for the CAM technology. Technologies like mill-turn, multitasking machining, started several years ago in USA and Western Europe because of the demand for high accuracy and lack of trained manpower. Now, you have these machines where you put the raw material and outcome is the finished part, this trend is coming to India of late. It has already been adopted by big companies and you will see the technology soon making it to mid-side and smaller companies.

How do you see the demand for highly automated technology and business for CAM providers like you in India?
Well, it starts with deriving more productivity and high accuracy. Any kind of complex machine which requires neat shape will or rather are driving the business for us. Indians need to come forward to adopt these technologies. India has to adopt these technology to be competitive, to provide higher accuracy with low cost. India cannot rely exclusively on the fact that labour is cheap, because for those complex machines cheap labour is not going to help. If India wants to continue to build simple parts, they will eventually lose out on competitiveness.

On the other hand, India that is emerging has lots of ground to cover in terms of infrastructure and that infrastructure demand will lead to demand from various sectors. And all of this needs to come from India rather than importing which is expensive.

Are you are optimistic about the Indian market?
Absolutely! 2014 was a great year for us. We tripled ourselves in terms of business compared to 2013. We are starting small but we see a lot of potential in the country. I don’t pretend to know much about Indian political situation, but I have heard from people that there is a definite pro-business stance in India right now with the new government. This is great news for everyone who wants to do business in India.

The Indian rupee has changed a lot against dollar in the last couple of months, how much has it affected your business?
We had decided many years ago that whenever we go and make a commitment to any market be it China, Japan, Western Europe or India, we would adjust our price according to the local currency. So we have a price listing for all these countries, in that way our distributors don’t have to worry about the change in exchange rate. This is very important for us too, as we want to be local we have adopted the local culture and provide solution as per their needs.

What are the challenges that you face in the Indian market?
India is very large country, sometime it’s tough to reach out to all the manufacturing destinations. DP is moving towards establishing and expanding itself in the market and have plans to hire people to address this coverage issue. As we grow and solidify ourselves in the market, finding right people is going to be tough. Also, at times it is difficult to convince people in India about the latest technologies as they have been using the conventional methods. It will take time to make them see the benefits of these new and advanced high end softwares and technology.

By Nishant Kashyap

DP Technology Corp., a leader in the field of computer-aided manufacturing (CAM), is pleased to announce the release of ESPRIT® 2014, the newest version of its innovative ESPRIT flagship product.

ESPRIT includes productivity-enhancing technology for all CNC programmers and for all machining disciplines, and provides machining technology that ensures smarter, more efficient toolpath and new strategies for greater overall productivity.

In addition to increasing overall productivity, this latest version also includes a host of time-saving upgrades and enhancements that benefit our customers specifically in the areas of tooling, automation, simulation and shop-floor collaboration.
New Cloud-Enabled CAM Technology
With the ESPRIT MachiningCloud Connection, programmers can easily find the ideal tooling for any job and save time flipping through printed tooling catalogues. They can access complete and up-to-date cutting-tool product data and simultaneously improve collision-detection capabilities.
Offering new anti-collision technology that protects your machine-tools and the parts they produce, ESPRIT provides complete anti-collision models of tool assemblies that ensure the accuracy of toolpath generation, simulation and verification.

Tooling
Improved features for editing and numbering tools in ESPRIT simplify tool management and cut programming time.
Simplify the process of editing cutting tools and their parameters with the ESPRIT Tool Editor, which uses a single interface to edit the data of multiple cutting tools.
With ESPRIT’s enhanced ability to Renumber Tools by Operation, change tool numbers based on the order of operations in the Operations Manager, rather than the order of the tools in the Tool Manager.

Automation
ESPRIT’s automation features increase efficiency by eliminating repetitive and time-consuming tasks.
Sort milling and turning operations based on the start-point coordinates of each operation and user-defined sorting criteria using ESPRIT’s Advanced Operation Sorting.
With ESPRIT’s new Turning-Feature Recognition capability, programmers are able to generate features for turning operations automatically on both the left and right ends of a selected solid model or part profile, as features are assigned to one of two work coordinates that are created automatically.

Turning Work Coordinates in ESPRIT 2014 improves on previous versions of the function by adding support for B-axis turrets, coordinate rotation, and other options.
With the Custom Setting Caption Manager, assign meaningful caption names to the Custom Settings on tool and operation technology pages in ESPRIT. Post developers will find this especially useful because entire Custom Setting Caption schemes can be developed and distributed alongside the post processors that output those custom setting values.

Simulation
Powerful ESPRIT simulation and collision-detection tools allow you to see the whole picture and protect your machine-tool investment.

With the ESPRIT Station Solid Simulation functionality, run simulations that automatically hide and show solid models assigned to automatic tool changer stations in Machine Setup.

With the enhanced Jaw Spinner capabilities, simulate turning operations with dynamic spinning jaws to avoid collisions that would not be detected with the jaws in a stationary position.

Collaboration
ESPRIT’s improved data-sharing features make teamwork seamless on the shop floor.

The ESPRIT Excel Report Generator increases efficiency and seamless communication by exporting machining data from an ESPRIT document and into an organized, ready-to-print report in the form of a Microsoft® Excel® workbook.

With the new eMerge capabilities, ESPRIT programmers are able to export and import ESPRIT merge packages for merging selected supported elements from one ESPRIT file to another.
The ESPRIT Part Configuration Manager allows programmers to create and manage different part configurations, including the automatic suppression and un-suppression of machining operations, all within a single ESPRIT file.

Productivity
The enhanced editing, organizational and measurement features in ESPRIT aid in maximizing your simulation and programs for greater productivity.

The new ESPRIT Measure Plus feature maximizes programming time by quickly measuring distances without smashing solids or solid sub-elements to create geometry, enables programmers to easily finding relative local coordinates without manipulating the model, and much more.

The ESPRIT Solid Properties enhancement allows programmers to view the properties of solid models and solid sub-elements to perform additional analysis of solid faces.
With the ESPRIT Post-Test Automation feature, programmers can rest assured that modifications made to post .asc files are correct and did not cause undesirable changes to NC code output.

Tombstone programming is easier than ever with the ESPRIT Tombstone Manager, which defines a tombstone by the number of sides and then quickly duplicates parts, work coordinates, and operations. The Tombstone Manager makes it easy to program a single part and then make copies on multiple faces with multiple work coordinates.