[step-manufacturing] Minutes of March 12th conference call

[Martin Hardwick]

Attendees
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Martin Hardwick, STEP Tools, USA
Magnus Lundgren, KTH, Sweden
Mikael Hedlind, Scania, Sweden
Bengt Olsson, Sandvik, Sweden
Mikael Tedborg, Sandvik, Sweden
Kevin Warren, Sandvik, USA
Sid Venkatesh, Boeing, USA
Leon Xu, Boeing, USA
Vincent Marchetti, Ameritech, USA
Larry Maggiano, Mitutoyo, USA

The meeting was chaotic with multiple participants leaving and joining 
at different times because of the recent one hour time change in the 
USA. Europe will not move to its summer time until March 30th so the 
next call will also be impacted. This is somewhat ironic because the 
weather in Europe is beautiful while much of the USA is covered in snow.

STEP Tools showed the latest version of the STEP-NC simulator in the 
STEP-NC Explorer v10.14. The new version is reliably computing removal 
volumes but is unnecessarily slow because no effort is being made to 
consolidate small facets, or remove complete tool sweeps. These features 
will be added next.

We discussed the IMTS demonstration. We agreed to focus on demonstrating 
the results of the tooling optimization experiments which show that 
machining time can be reduced by 15% or better when modern tooling is 
combined with modern modeling technology. STEP Tools and Boeing will 
write a one or two paragraph proposal for Okuma which will be reviewed 
on the next conference call. The goal is to give a 30 minute 
demonstration on each day, with 10 minutes of machining time and 20 
minutes to explain the scenario and answer questions.

We discussed measuring the results of the tooling optimizations for 
conformance to the part surface finish and dimensional requirements. We 
can measure the part near the machining if there is space for a one 
meter by one meter device, or we can measure offline in the Mitutoyo 
booth. Measuring in the Mitutoyo booth will mean a break in the schedule 
and a reduced audience for this part of the demonstration.

The next conference call will be held at the regular times for the USA, 
and irregular times (one hour early) in the UK and Europe, on Wednesday 
March 19th. A recording of this conference call is at the address below:

ftp://www.steptools.com/private/CAM_exchange/Cycle_3/stepmanuf_telecon_20140312.wmv