VS Steel sro, based at Lhotky in the Czech Republic, had several “negative experiences” with its machining software about two years ago, so when new staff who were already proficient in using the WorkNC CAM system (www.worknc.com) joined the company, it contacted WorkNC’s reseller in the Czech Republic and Slovakia — Semaco Tools and Software sro.

The latter arranged demonstrations that showed how WorkNC could solve VS Steel’s issues.

Vladimira Dolenská, who works in the technology department, said: “WorkNC readily overcomes our biggest challenges relating to high precision and tight tolerance.

“When we first invested in it around 18 months ago, we quickly noticed its simplicity, and how its faster program preparation and collision avoidance ensured that all our parts — including those with tight tolerances of 0.01mm for Skoda Auto — are produced accurately, first time and every time.”

He says that the logical work-flow — including geometry loading, part analysis, and the creation of technological surfaces, projects and tool-paths, along with managing the post-processor and HTML documentation — gives his department a much better user experience.

Indeed, every component now ‘goes through’ WorkNC and is machined on either the company’s Hermle C400U (with a Heidenhain 530 controller) or Tajmac MCFV 1260.

Mr Dolenská added: “Our new programmer was able to work with the software as soon as he joined the company, so we benefitted immediately from faster program preparation, without the need for additional pre-run checks on the machine.

“We now regard WorkNC as being the closest we can get to ‘one-button CAM’, with automated efficient tool-paths bringing dramatic productivity gains through shorter machining times, longer tool life, improved surface finishing and accuracy, better machine utilisation, and fast and easy CNC programming.”