Mitsubishi Electric manufactures and supplies electrical and electronic products and systems. The company’s products range from industrial air conditioning systems, automotive equipment, building systems, factory automation systems, semiconductors, and more. Recently, the company released its new software, the CNC Offset Manager.
The new software has been designed to allow factory floor production managers and supervisors and CNC automation software companies to change or automate CNC offsets manually.
CNC Machining
Computer numerical control (CNC) machining involves cutting metal or other materials with a computer-controlled machine. Materials can also be drilled, ground, or milled. The process provides the means to produce customized, highly precise parts cost-effectively. This process is used in various industries like aerospace, automotive, and biomedical industries and involves managing CNC tools and offsets to optimize efficiency.
A CNC milling machine at work.
The key aspects of CNC machining are design, simulation, and post-processing. Designing a part can be done using computer-aided design (CAD) or computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) software. CAD software will generate the complex geometries needed for the product, while CAM software will convert them into instructions for the CNC machine to follow.
One of the most popular CAM systems is Solidworks, enabling users to specify toolpaths and assign operations between devices. Post-processing software helps users inspect the finished product and detect errors.
Mitsubishi’s CNC Offset Manager
The new offset manager software from Mitsubishi allows CNC machining to be fully automated. Other CNC automation software involving metrology, inspection, or robot cell management software can be integrated into CNC machining operations. Automation software or systems from different software companies can be interfaced with the CNC to automate the offset management process fully. This approach can also be used to modify CNC tools and offsets from a central cell-management software.
The Mitsubishi CNC M800/M80 Series. Image used courtesy of Mitsubishi
Operators can manage multiple machines, make set up and tool wear changes faster, adjust parts for optimal processing and centralize these actions. This means that operators will not have to move from machine to machine or into robot cells, consequently saving valuable time.
In a recent news release, the Services Product Manager at Mitsubishi Electric Automation, Rob Brodecki, said, “The release of CNC Offset Manager is coming at a good time.” Brodecki added, “The ability to remotely modify CNC offsets will help our CNC end-users increase their productivity. We see its use becoming commonplace in factories that use our CNC equipment.”
The CNC Offset Manager runs on Windows and is connected to the Mitsubishi Electric CNC through Ethernet. The software can be used with all standard M70/M700 and M80/M800 series CNC. This excludes Mazak, Citizen, Mori M720 or older, and Index/Traub. Mitsubishi is hopeful that this new CNC software can help engineers streamline their CNC operations on the factory floor.
