A ‘model of perfection’

Ryan De'ath with the Belotti five-axis machine that is powered by hyperMILL

Located just south of Peterborough and part of the Codem Group, Codem Composites was founded 15 years ago; and while the company had earlier been single-shift working, it is now operating 24/7 and inundated with work — to the point that necessitated investment in advanced manufacturing technologies to keep pace with demand. These include a brand-new five-axis machining centre and a CAD/CAM software suite.

Codem Composites, which now operates out of a 30,000ft² facility, originally focused on the development and application of advanced materials for the defence, automotive, and motorsport industries, but subsequently embraced additional technologies to broaden the range of engineering solutions offered and so address more complex problems across a wider range of markets.

Explaining the process flow for ISO 9001-certified Codem Composites, Ryan De’ath — the company’s CAM and manufacturing supervisor — said: “We produce composite parts for a wide variety of sectors from motorsport through to defence. Anything that the customer wants manufactured out of composites, we can do it. The life cycle of a component that comes through this facility will initially start with the manufacture of a tool or pattern designed to conform to the customer’s exact requirements. Once machined, it will be hand-finished and sealed ready for lamination. The subsequent laminated parts will then be cured, trimmed, inspected and delivered to the customer.

Pictured right: a model programmed and machined on the Belotti five-axis machine with hyperMILL

“When you consider the complexity of parts that we are dealing with, it is essential for us to have an advanced CAM system. We are now using HyperMill from Open Mind Technologies UK Ltd, and this has completely changed the way that we do things here. Indeed, the capabilities this system provides has seen us progress from a five-axis machine suffering a programming bottleneck to confidently investing in a second machine.

“When reviewing CAM systems, we looked for features that could be tailored to our business requirements. For example, we invested in the HyperMill modules for simultaneous five-axis machining; this is something that we weren’t able to do with our previous software system. We are also running Open Mind’s Virtual Machine, which has been a game-changer for lights-out running, giving us the confidence to leave the machine unattended overnight.”

Looking back
Reflecting on the decision to invest in HyperMill, Mr De’ath continued: “Two years ago, I was using the software that our company already had in place. I suggested that we consider HyperMill to improve efficiencies in our workflow, as with the previous software parts were running one at a time during the day then the machine switched off at night. By implementing HyperMill we have been able to increase efficiency hugely by not only having unmanned overnight running but also machining multiple parts in a single set-up on the large-bed machine.

Pictured left: a model manufactured at Codem Composites with hyperMILL

“Moreover, HyperMill has enabled us to schedule our workflow much more efficiently by running smaller jobs during the day and larger batches of work unmanned overnight, and thereby maximise the capacity of the machine. With HyperMill we can set up the machine with a batch of tools and return to finished parts in the morning, enabling us to move straight to the hand-finishing processes.”

Ken Baldwin — Open Mind’s UK sales director — said: “Codem has been using HyperMill for almost two years, investing in not only a five-axis HyperMill licence but also the Virtual Machine module. Machining composites with a Belotti FLU 2617 gantry-type machining centre had initially resulted in a bottleneck because it sat idle for too long as Codem could not program the parts quickly enough. HyperMill immediately enabled Codem to program the parts a lot faster, while the Virtual Machine module provided confidence to run the parts on the machine tool the first time without any prove out.”

Confirming the benefits of implementing HyperMill, Mr De’ath continued: “One of the benefits of using this system is its integrated CAD tools, which enable you to extend surfaces and cap holes. Previously, we had to make those surface edits and then export and import them. Now, we can do things ‘live’, which means when programming we can make decisions and implement edits immediately. There there is no ‘back and forth’ as with other software; everything is controlled within the same programming environment, saving huge amounts of programming time.”

Game changer
Mr De’ath continued: “Moreover, the Virtual Machine module has been an absolute ‘game changer’ for us, particularly for our overnight running. We can program a part and put it through the Virtual Machine; and once this module passes the program we know we can run it with 100% confidence.”

Pictured right: the work envelope of the Belotti five-axis machine with mulitple parts set-up simultaneously

Mr Baldwin said: “Virtual Machine is where we create a digital twin of the machine tool, one that gives us the exact parameters of what it is capable of and what its limits are. Virtual Machine will simulate the toolpath by simulating the NC file, so when we create an NC file in Virtual Machine, it will apply optimisation to the NC file before it is simulated.

“In terms of optimising, this means that rather than the operator having to make decisions about the position of the five-axis head, such as if there may be a collision in one area and not another, the software makes that decision and then optimises the toolpath in terms of retracts to make sure the tool stays as close to the job as possible, rather than going back to the home position, thereby making the toolpath as efficient as possible without any input from the user.”

Mr Baldwin added: “Machine tools should be as efficient and productive as possible, so rather than investing in a new machine tool, manufacturers should be looking to get machines running at their absolute capacity before committing to that additional investment. Machine tools take up a lot of floor space and consume energy, so if you can make your machine as productive as possible and get more parts off it in a certain period, when the machine then reaches capacity will it be time to invest in additional CNC machines — just like Codem has done.”

Mr De‘ath concluded: “We implemented the HyperMill software so that we could use our Belotti FLU 2617 machine more efficiently. The improvement was such that we have invested in another Belotti to go alongside the first one to accommodate the increased production work we are now winning.”