26 INTEGRATED MANUFACTURING SYSTEMS 2 , 3
F
ord's research staff benefit from advanced
CNC investment.
Lead Time and
Cost Reduction:
A CNC Programming
System for Motor Vehicle
Prototypes
Jerry Fireman
Integrated Manufacturing Systems, Vol. 2 No. 3, 1991, pp. 26-28
© MCB University Press, 0957-6061
The MasterCam CNC programming system* has allowed
Ford Motor Company Research Staff at Dearborn,
Michigan, to produce a wide variety of prototype parts
with complex contours on CNC machine tools rather than
building patterns by hand and casting the parts. The
advantages have been impressive:
(1) The need to build patterns by hand has been
eliminated, thus reducing the cost of the average
prototype part by 75 per cent.
(2) Lead time has been reduced from an average of
three weeks for pattern making, mould making and
casting to a typical 48 hours for programming and
CNC machining.
(3) Prototype quality has been greatly improved
because the machined parts possess math-
ematically sound contours rather than hand filed
approximations.
The key to these savings was the ease of creating complex
surfaces with the MasterCam programming system from
CNC Software of Tolland, Connecticut. Four different
programming tools had previously been tried including a
*The MasterCam Programming System, CNC Software, Case
Postale 249, 32 av. de la Gottaz,CH-1110Morges, Switzerland.
FORTRAN-based command-type system, specialised
systemfromtwo of Ford's established suppliers of controls
and a hybrid menu-language type program. These systems
worked reasonably well for flat surfaces but programming
of parts with complex contours was either impossible or
too difficult to attempt on company time. In contrast the
MasterCam system, was so easy to use that programming
could be done by people who had not even attended the
training class.
The Research Staff Machine Shop is responsible for
producing virtually any type of prototype part, although
the majority of its work involves engine components. The
shop is located inside Ford's primary research facility in
order to encourage close collaboration between the
engineers and scientists who design the parts and the shop
personnel who program and machine them. Because of
the nature of their work, most of the people they deal
with have little machining experience. They know what
they want but do not know how to get it, so they are
assisted by helping them select materials, tooling and
processes. Frequently a request is to take a rough concept
sketch and fine-tune the design as well as the
manufacturing process.
Traditionally, this work was performed on manual milling
machines, lathes and grinders. But, around 1986 the
purchase was initiated of the machine shop's first CNC
machining centre. Since then, a wide variety of CNC
machining centres, lathes and wire EDM machines have
been installed. Each of the new machines was justified
on its ability to produce a particular type of component.
With two of the CNC machines came programming
systems which were specially designed to work with the
machine's controls. In addition, the company purchased
a FORTRAN-based and a hybrid menu-language
programming system. But none proved fully satisfactory.
All four of these systems were extremely difficult to use
whenever a complex contour was involved. For example,
with the hybrid system, they had to create the individual
points and lines one by one through a series of complex
commands. The geometry was all created in two
dimensions. After the geometry wasfinished,it had to
be rotated into its proper three-dimensional position and
then posted before it could be viewed properly. Usually,
it was incorrect and they had to start the whole process
from the beginning. As a result, any difficult parts were
usually referred to the pattern shop where it could be
approximated by hand. Another problem with this system
was that only two people ever learned how to use it —
even for simpler parts.
When Ford Motor Company Research purchased
MasterCam two years ago, after seeing it at a trade show,
there were dramatic improvements almost at once. They
 A CNC PROGRAMMING SYSTEM FOR MOTOR VEHICAL PROTOTYPE LEAD TIME REDUCTION
brought it in, set it up on the computer, and said "let's
use it". Amazingly enough, people did just that. Even the
ones who had never produced a single CNC program in
their lives. The program is very intuitive and uses the
same language used in the shop. But, perhaps the best
thing is how easy it is to create surfaces. This is started
by creating a wideframe model of the part just as with
a CAD system (see Plate 1). Then the most complex
surfaces can be defined simply by touching the borders
of the area to be surfaced with the mouse. As the surface
is created, it appears on the screen so it can instantly be
seen if a mistake has been made.
Early prototypes had
indicated problems which
needed to be
resolved a
Soon after MasterCam was installed, the machine shop
began to tackle parts that had previously been cast, such
as rocker arms and carburettors. One of the more
interesting examples cited is a flow duct used for the air
intake of a new model engine (see Plate 2). Early
prototypes had indicated problems which needed to be
resolved almost instantly to avoid delaying the "Job One"
introduction date. The Research Staff conceived the new
design and provided sectional templates cut along the radial
sections of the basically kidney-shaped part. One of the
machine shop's two most experienced programmers was
assigned the programming role.
27
He noted that these sections had originally been drawn
on a CAD system. The CAD geometry was transferred
to MasterCam but was discovered to be unusable due to
noncontiguous and overlapping entities. This is a common
problem, particularly when a design is created in two
dimensions. The ideal method of producing the geometry
would have been to create a three-dimensional wireframe
without sections. Then the programming system could
have been used to blend smoothly the ends of the part.
The reason why this part and most similar geometry is
created in template style is, of course, that designers are
still used to thinking in terms of patterns.
So, the programmer began by drawing half of each section
in the programming system and mirroring the geometry
to complete the wireframe (see Plate 3). From there he
proceeded to define the Coons patches required to surface
the part. This was easily accomplished with MasterCam's
Coons patch function which generates a surface mesh
based on either a three- or four-sided boundary. The
program prompted him for the number of patches in the
along direction — which was 8 — and the across direction
— which was 5. Then he proceeded to select the
boundaries of each Coons patch one by one in the order
they were to be machined. As each patch was selected
its colour changed so it was easy for the programmer to
keep his place.
In response to prompts, the programmer then entered
the tool offsets and tool path increment which is the length
of the tiny line segments from which the computer builds
the tool path. The next step was for him to provide a
number of machining parameters: size of cutter, spindle
28 INTEGRATED MANUFACTURING SYSTEMS 2 , 3
speed, feed rate, rapid movements, number of roughing
and finishing passes, advance on each pass, use of coolant,
etc. The program generated the tool path required to
machine the surface. The tool path was then displayed
on the screen.
When the tool path was displayed, a problem was revealed.
The ball nose and mill used to machine the part was unable
to generate a sharp corner near the top without gouging.
With the problem clearly displayed the programmer slightly
modified the part geometry to provide a solution. After
Jerry Fireman is President of Jerry Fireman Inc., of Rochester, Michigan, USA.
checking with the designer to be sure the modification
was acceptable, the job was finished. The entire program
took under eight hours to produce. A program like this
would have been impossible to create on any of the four
programming systems that the machine shop used
previously.
Time savings have been great
even on parts that could
be programmed
The quality of the resulting machined part was far superior
to that which could have been achieved by casting. CNC
programming produces a mathematically precise part,
while a pattern is basically just something that looks similar
to what the designer had in mind. After the flow duct was
machined and tested, it was found it still did not conduct
enough air. Using the geometry provided by MasterCam,
the engineer was able easily to determine the volume of
the cavity. He then calculated the volume and dimensions
that were needed to achieve the desired performance. A
few alterations were made to the program to give him a
new part. The whole process took about a day. It would
have easily taken a month if casting was involved.
Time savings have been great even on parts that could
be programmed with one of the old systems. Programming
times have been reduced by at least 50 per cent on every
part, and on many parts the savings have been far greater.
As a result, staff have been cut by 50 per cent in the past
three years — through attrition and transfers — while still
carrying the same workload. Finally, there has been expert
and timely technical support for the program from the local
distributor, CIM Solutions of Canton, Michigan.