NEW I ADAPT TO REDUCE CYCLE TIMES BY UP TO 40%
14 May 2004 - GE Fanuc Automation CNC Europe SA

Echternach, Luxembourg - GE Fanuc Automation Europe has introduced i Adapt for Milling, an adaptive control productivity solution for milling applications. By automatically maximising a machine's material removal rate during rough cutting, i Adapt can reduce cycle times by as much as 40 percent, as well as increase tool life and allow users to leverage their existing installed base of CNC technology. i Adapt is available in the UK on 30-days free trial, and includes 12 months warranty on the CNC system. It is designed to be easily retrofitted to most Fanuc CNC control systems and GE Fanuc will undertake a free site survey to ensure compatibility.

'In roughing cycles, maximum material removal rates are even more critical than precision and surface finish. As an enabling technology for this stage of the machining process, i Adapt can help improve production at shops of all sizes,' said Frank Müller, Manager Service Europe, GE Fanuc Automation. 'By reducing cycle times and increasing the efficiency of their existing machines, small and medium size shops, as well as large organisations, can decrease lead times, cut down on their costs and become more competitive in a payback period measured in days.'

i Adapt maximises material removal rates and minimises cycle times by optimising the cutting feed rate based on a programmed spindle load. By optimising the feed rate in real time, i Adapt compensates for conservative assumptions and process variations to help reduce cycle times. Every part, including the first, is optimised automatically, eliminating the need for manual part program optimisation.

Because there are so many variables to the cutting process, many of which change from machine to machine and blank to blank, real-time optimisation is a key feature of i Adapt. Though manual part program optimisation is possible for some variables, they have to be re-applied each time a change is made to the part design or to the process. Therefore, it is often very difficult, as well as increasingly uneconomical and impractical, for a part programmer to manually optimise a part program, particularly with manufacturing lot sizes continuing to fall. In addition, even when manual optimisation is attempted, the part programmer must use a conservative feed rate to protect the machine from overload. i Adapt addresses this concern with limits monitoring to protect machines from damage.

i Adapt works with all material types and requires no special programming for interrupted cuts. All adaptive monitoring is programmable through the CNC and is transparent to the operator. In addition to the shorter cycle times resulting from an optimised feed rate, i Adapt can also increase tool life by applying a constant and predictable cutting load.

In addition to i Adapt for Milling and i Adapt for Turning, the i Adapt family also includes solutions available through a variety of third-party machine tool builders.

http://gefanuc-europe.com

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