Invest in the Best Available CAM Software

Copsey Engineering Ltd | Witham (Essex), United Kingdom

When Copsey Engineering committed to set itself as a benchmark in the subcontracting industry, the Essex manufacturer made its first step from 3- to 5‑axis machining with the acquisition of an OKK 5‑axis machining centre and CAM software from OPEN MIND Technologies to drive the business forward.

Since acquiring the OKK VP600 machine and its first seat of hyperMILL^® in 2006, the company has since invested over £1.2m in machine tools with the inclusion of three Mazak 5‑axis machines and an additional three seats of hyperMILL^® to support the machine purchases. As Copsey Engineering, Managing Director, Mr Stephen Collins comments: “We didn't want to be a 'Fred in the Shed' subcontractor, so we invested in the best available machine tools and CAM software. From a CAM perspective, we investigated the market and noted the amount of marquee OEMs using hyperMILL^®. Our investigations led to demo's from five leading vendors and we instantly noted why the blue-chip OEM's use hyperMILL^®.”

A real time saver

Discussing this situation, Copsey Engineering’s Works Manager, Mr Mick Brown says: “The flexibility from OPEN MIND’s post-processors have been a major boost to the through-flow and scheduling of our workload. However, as someone using hyperMILL^® daily, it’s the speed the CAM software gets us through programming to final part that is a real time saver. hyperMILL^® allows us to incorporate vices and workholding devices into the program, so we can visualize awkward jobs on the screen and ensure our toolpaths and set-ups are correct. If we ever make errors, hyperMILL^®’s collision avoidance feature is second to none.”

“By programming even 3‑axis parts with hyperMILL^® we have reduced lead times and increased profit margins by over 60%.“

Stephen Collins, Managing Director

Improved cycle times and productivity

“The arrival of OPEN MIND’s hyperMILL^® CAM package has improved our cycle times and productivity, increased our capacity and also delivered complete flexibility for work scheduling whilst reducing on-machine programming times. Away from the shop floor, it has proven easy to use and intuitive and has allowed us to target more complex work from a wider range of industry sectors. This is a major factor in our ongoing growth and upturn in our turnover and profit margins. We picked OPEN MIND based on the recommendations of leading OEMs and we haven’t been disappointed. It’s delivered everything we wanted and much more,” concludes Mr Brown.

www.copseygb.com