From a manufacturer’s perspective CAM, or Computer-aided manufacture, is where Computer-aided design (CAD) becomes less developmental and more tangible. Indeed, the computer-based design, modeling and creation services CAD provides can be translated into physical products through CAM, making CAD CAM solutions extremely important for American and global industry.
CAM, in this sense, is simply the development of numerical control (NC) programming that allows for CAD ideas to be created by computer numerically controlled (CNC) machines. Employees trained effectively in CAM software and CNC CAD software, therefore, can speed up the developmental and manufacturing processes of products, thus speeding up the initial stages of their lifecycle and getting them produced more quickly and efficiently.
While CAM software can independently create the g-code – the language CNC machines use to manufacture CAD ideas – human input is still very important in a successful CAM process. Indeed, from the actual creation of the product and CAD idea, to the optimization and successful implementation of g-code in CNC machines, manufacturing engineers, NC programmers and machinists are essential in making ideas and prototypes into a tangible, physical reality.
CAD and CAM have come a long way from the early 1970s, when they were first used in the automotive and aerospace industries to automate manufacturing and improve efficiency. Even if your programmers, engineers and machinists are already well-versed in the CAD CAM field, consulting with our instructors can be a good way to make sure your staff stays up-to-date in a field that is advancing quickly and is rapidly becoming more technical and complex.