An Open Minded View on CAM Software Propels Aerospace Shop
Novo Modo Machining | Mount Vernon, Washington, USA
Novo Modo, a growing machine shop, faced challenges in efficiently manufacturing complex aerospace parts and onboarding new operators, especially with 5-axis machining and avoiding crashes. By adopting hyperMILL CAM software and leveraging its advanced VIRTUAL Machining capabilities, they gained the ability to quickly achieve high-precision results, eliminate toolpath collisions, and empower their team with confidence, even with less experienced employees.
Novo Modo Founder and President Joseph Alonso shares his strategies for successfully starting the company and how he plans to scale up with new shops.
Formed in 2023, Novo Modo quite literally means “new way” in Latin, and is a philosophy that the company takes to heart in mind and in practice. Novo Modo, located in Mount Vernon, Washington, is a high mix, low volume machine shop with seven employees, primarily manufacturing parts for the aerospace industry. The shop has over 3,500 sq. ft. of manufacturing space. Its Founder and President, Joseph Alonso, readily admits that one of the most “uncomfortable” initiatives he took on when starting the company was learning a CAM system he had not previously used.
“hyperMILL VIRTUAL Machining enabled us to take off like a rocket, from the start. The machine was fully assembled on the floor and we were successfully programming and cutting chips in days. It was incredible.”
Joseph Alonso, Founder and President of Novo Modo
Origins of a New Company
From the beginning of his machining journey, Alonso realized that manufacturing was his passion. Starting at age 15, he finished at the top of his vocational high school class where he first obtained his precision machining skills, while concurrently working a full-time job at an aerospace shop. Over the next 20 plus years, he held roles including machine operator, CNC machinist, manufacturing manager, senior NC programmer, and lead manufacturing engineer. It was at his last role at a large corporation, when he saw that his position was in jeopardy due to widespread company layoffs, and a spark was ignited to form his own machine shop.
A foundational goal for Alonso was to establish the company with the right equipment and technology as well as establish strong partnerships with the chosen brands. He remembers thinking, “I have one chance at this, one chance to do it right.” LinkedIn became a vehicle for research. Alonso said,” I asked my LinkedIn community about their recommendations for machines, CMMs, cutting tools and software. Every brand we selected is a result of the feedback I received.”
However, Alonso admits he is probably not the easiest person to establish a new relationship with. “I ask a lot of probing questions to pull-out the details I need to make the best decisions,” he said. And even though Alonso had significant experience with particular CNC machines, cutting tools and software, he kept an open mind when it came to evaluating new, optimal solutions.
A foundational goal for Novo Modo Founder and President, Joseph Alonso was to establish the company with the right equipment and technology, as well as establish strong partnerships with the chosen brands.
In the case of CAM software, he had extensive programming experience but not with the hyperMILL CAD/CAM software suite from OPEN MIND Technologies (with North American headquarters in Needham, MA). “When OPEN MIND approached me, I definitely needed to step out of my comfort zone to even think about learning new software,” Alonso admits. “However, they gave me the opportunity to try the software with no strings attached,” said Alonso. “I was not obligated to stick with it if it didn’t work out. They had full confidence in their product and assured the results.”
Taking his due diligence a step further, Alonso reached out to get feedback from a couple of people he knew were using hyperMILL. They confidently endorsed hyperMILL and especially reinforced that with the right setup parameters, there is no fear of crashing a 5-axis machine, a critical priority for Novo Modo.
No Looking Back
After trying hyperMILL on just one job, Alonso was convinced he had found the right CAM partner. His experience learning the software was fast and easy due to its logical flow and interface. “Its flow makes a lot of sense compared to other CAM software I’ve used. I feel like a machinist developed the software because it is so intuitive and understandable. Before hyperMILL, I had not used software with a digital twin capability and had not created a post that I didn't have to modify,” Alonso said. “As long as my feeds, speeds, and my depth of cut are all correct, I'm going to have a good part without a machine crash.” Now Novo Modo has had well over 300 CAM projects without any toolpath collisions which encompass thousands of parts when using hyperMILL. “A lot of companies will say, we can do this, but they're not willing to prove it,” said Alonso.
At the core of the CAM software are its accurate toolpath strategies. Novo Modo reports that they can focus on making parts minus the time it takes to troubleshoot problems. “The software does what every CAM solution should be doing,” said Alonso.
A wide range of strategies in hyperMILL both simplify and enhance the programming experience. Alonso credits the hyperMILL VIRTUAL Machining capabilities for enabling Novo Modo “to take off like a rocket, from the start.” “The machine was fully assembled on the floor and we were successfully programming and cutting chips in days, without any crashes. It was incredible,” he said. hyperMILL VIRTUAL Machining software simulates, generates, and optimizes NC code and compares a digital twin of the machine for reliability and efficiency.
“When we have an inexperienced operator, the hyperMILL VIRTUAL Machining capabilities actually allow the operator to fail at things such as establishing the right feeds and speeds, without the fear of collisions,” said Alonso. “It is a huge confidence booster, so we are able to give new employees a chance right away to be on the machine floor, programming and making parts.” hyperMILL VIRTUAL Machining also saves significant time downstream. Alonso continues, “It has almost entirely eliminated programming issues that can arise at the machine, which is invaluable. hyperMILL VIRTUAL Machining has also prevented us from getting too far down the wrong track, such as using incorrect tooling or workholding for a project. Without this capability, one could finish a 10-20 hour program only to discover a design flaw which requires substantial rework.”
And the confidence instilled in new employees has been equally important for Alonso and the whole shop. Right out of the gate as a start-up, Novo Modo received a high rating from one of their satellite manufacturing customers which Alonso was happy to share with his team. “I have to hand it to the brands that we have partnered with – we would not be doing as well as we are without all the right technology coming together.” The equipment at Novo Modo includes three Hermle 5-axis machining centers, three Wenzel CMMs and Fraisa cutting tools.
Satellite part utilizing, with toolpaths, a "Window Frame and Tab" technique to ensure all features are created in a single operation.
Held in an HWR self-centering 5-Axis Vice located on top of a Zero Point Fixture plate permanently mounted to the Hermle C250 Systems Trunnion.
Image source: Novo Modo
Here seen inside hyperMILL VIRTUAL Machining – preparing for verification of toolpaths.
Image source: Novo Modo
Seen inside hyperMILL VIRTUAL Machining, verifying each toolpath while simultaneously checking every single part of the Hermle for a potential collision!
Image source: Novo Modo
Gen Z Mold Maker
One of the trials that Alonso put hyperMILL through was deep hole drilling in a cavity. The cavity application included an 1/8-inch hole with 4-inch depth (32x the hole diameter). “The hyperMILL toolpath was able to control the entire process from a slow start to break-throughs and a high feed and vice versa, entering and exiting the gap multiple times.”
This single cavity milling trial became the prototype for a nineteen year old operator with minimal experience to complete a five-piece mold. Alonso said, “Since the first cavity had the most geometry on it, the new operator was able to more readily recognize the requirements for the additional four cavities.” Using that information combined with the High-Precision Mode in hyperMILL he was able to mill the cavities right, the first time.
Alonso and his team are able to manufacture complex 5-axis prototypes maintaining over one hundred key dimensions in just days. He credits the quick and accurate turn-around to fully utilizing the CAM software, including the ability to prove out most of the work before it ever even hits the machine. Alonso points to another example where hyperMILL VIRTUAL Machining is pivotal for efficiently making parts. “When producing the first few parts of a job or every time a part needs to be re-simulated and reposted, we see many hours of savings at the machine so our time can be spent more productively elsewhere. For example, if a part is running one hour in production without using simulation software, you may run it at 10-20% rapid, sometimes in “single block” or toolpath by toolpath. This would result in 50% or more additional production time.” Alonso reports that with hyperMILL VIRTUAL Machining, they are able to put the machine on 40-60% rapid, 100% feed rate, and optional stop, to watch each tool start. “We then walk away. If it is just a repost from a small edit we do not even use the optional stop -- we press go, put it at 60-80% rapid, and let it run while we do something else.”
Novo Modo Founder and President, Joseph Alonso, knows he has found the right CAM software with hyperMILL.
Another feature that Novo Modo finds very useful is the Tool Database. The hyperMILL Tool Database can set speeds and feeds, step overs, step downs, coolants, and also includes manufacturers of cutting tools. All these features can be material specific and cutting-process specific, allowing users to select the material type in the job file (program) and reference the defaults set for that specific tool applied on that particular material. This keeps the software and programs very organized and clean.
“After downloading the Fraisa cutting tool parameters, I can import them right into the Tool Database. Then, I can automatically call up the specifications for the tool and toolholder, feed speeds, depth of cuts, and pull it into the hyperMILL 3D roughing cycle, for example. We're able to save standard tools across the machines, in the right setup,” said Alonso. “The Tool Database and XML downloads are reducing our programming time by up to 10% because we do not have to set up each tool. It also saves substantial time at the machine because we do not have to play with feeds and speeds to find the right parameters.”
Special functions are offered in hyperMILL for surface machining that are integrated as standard to enable the efficient and reliable production of high surface qualities. Using the “High Precision Surface Mode,” toolpath calculation is performed directly on the surfaces of the CAD model. The machining tolerance can be controlled down to the micron range to ensure precise machining. Distribution of the NC points is optimally adapted to the machining tolerance, resulting in a uniform milling pattern. Alonso said, “It's as easy as clicking a feature and obtaining a little warning in case the parameter was out of range, then being able to achieve high precision mode. So, after making the change, you can see all the points change reflecting how it sees that surface. In the case of fine surface finiishes, hyperMILL High Precision Surface Mode has eliminated almost all post processing requirements, saving up to several hours of finishing work.”
The job worked out great – all the surfaces were excellent with no blending required. The mold customer was so impressed that the operator was only nineteen years old and it was one of his first programs, that he wrote Novo Modo a letter praising the work.
Watch to learn how hyperMILL CAM strategies are key for toolpath accuracy, ensuring high machining efficiency and more at Novo Modo.
Role Model
In keeping with its name, Alonso still considers Novo Modo a new concept and idea -- one that he would like to scale and set up new shops in multiple sites. “The technology we chose is working well, so we are striving to launch another location in 2026 by mirroring what we do in Mount Vernon, ” said Alonso.
Part of the strategy in their new locations will be to bring along some of their senior employees. However, since there will likely be a blending of experienced and inexperienced operators, hyperMILL plays a pivotal role in having their whole team quickly up to speed.
An example of a hyperMILL> strategy that helps with new operators is 5-axis rework. It will take a 3-axis toolpath which may not be suitable for machining a steep wall, and create a 5-axis toolpath which will work. “Someone who is just learning to use 5-axis technology can use 5-axis rework to automatically create the required toolpaths – it is a game changer.” The hyperMILL 5-axis toolpath generation has eliminated many hours of trial and error when generating toolpaths. “I have spent an hour or more to produce a good toolpath when using other CAM software. With hyperMILL, I have never spent more than 5 to 20 minutes on a complex toolpath.”
“Technology should decrease the amount of time you spend trying to learn something new as well as increase productivity,” said Alonso. “OPEN MIND is continually evaluating how they can help users decrease the time between establishing a toolpath, producing chips at the machine and making an accurate part.”