OPEN MIND's Innovation Drive at MACH 2016 Delivers Results

20 April 2016

'The best MACH yet,' is how OPEN MIND Technologies Sales Director, Mr Ken Baldwin described the 2016 event. Beaming with delight, the OPEN MIND team accredits its 150% enquiry increase to a culmination of a number of factors.

The event provided a phenomenally high number of enquiries from OEMs and subcontract manufacturers from all industry sectors, something that the UK team are already chasing up with one-to-one demonstrations. Commenting upon why MACH 2016 was so successful, Mr Baldwin says: "At exhibitions our enquiries generally arrive from a diverse customer type, but MACH 2016 was different. We had people seeking us out and giving us specific reasons for turning to our hyperMILL CAM package. More than ever, we had huge numbers of enquiries from CAM users working with competitor products. The reasons varied from inadequate support and poor service through to the lack of product development, updates and enhancements with competitor packages. Some CAM users are disillusioned with discontinued products and support; and even the prospect of changing terms and conditions."

Of course, OPEN MIND is regarded as the technology benchmark in CAM software and this was demonstrated at MACH with the introduction of the latest hyperMILL innovation 'MAXX' machining. Introducing the latest version of its award winning hyperMILL®, Version 2016.2, the new MAXX Machining performance package offers powerful modules that help companies realise significant optimisation potential in roughing, finishing and drilling applications.

Two new innovations in the MAXX machining module include the ‘tangent plane machining’ and the '5-axis helical drilling' strategies. The tangent plane machining can deliver time savings of up to 90% when using conical barrel cutters with path distances of 6 and 8mm possible with the large radii of the conical barrel cutters. At MACH, stand visitors were astounded by the surface finishes achieved with such a large step-over, something that was highlighted on exquisite demo parts on the stand.

The '5-axis helical drilling' cycle enables holes to be machined easily and efficiently with a forward lead angle. A tilt angle to the side is then used as part of the collision avoidance process. The advantages are that only one tool is needed for different drill diameters. Pre-drilling is not necessary and the strategy is very well suited for materials that are hard to cut, with machining times reduced by 20 to 25% compared to conventional drilling.

Discussing the new cycles, Mr Baldwin continues: "These features were launched at EMO last year and CAM users at MACH were not only impressed by the modules, but also the fact that we are innovating at a rate far beyond our competitors. CAM users are paying attention to our rate of innovation, the benefits of the new cycles and our reputation among high-end OEMs and subcontractors. Added to this, we had the eye-catching NBM mountain bike on our stand and we were also doing a series of promotions that resulted in Belfast based Whiskin Precision winning a seat of hyperMILL and full training. In addition to giving a hyperMILL seat to our lucky competition winner, an additional seat was supplied to the Engineering Technology Group (ETG) for their prize draw. The draw has seen a Hardinge GS150 turning centre fully tooled by WNT and supported with a seat of hyperMILL being given to JJ Hardy of Hartlepool."