Mastercam X2 Now Released and Shipping to Customers.

4
Product News
Making the Switch: Learning a New Version of Mastercam
The only thing that’s constant is change – especially
in the world of software. Change is good because
it delivers new tools and new ways of doing
things. But a lot of change can also cause
concern, and taking time to learn new software
doesn’t make today’s “to do” list any shorter.
We sat down with Tom Prebelich, Tooling
Supervisor at Dynamic Plastics, to find
out how he made the switch from
Mastercam V9 to Mastercam X
– without disrupting his workflow.
Mastercam: Tell us a little about
the shop.
Tom Prebelich: It started off
small in 1994. We had two Bridgeports, Mastercam,
and a lot of room to grow. Since then, we’ve expanded
to 25,000 square feet with one Makino S56 machining
center, three Fadal machining centers, twelve ProtoTrak
3axis mills and one SP43 Makino wire machine. We run
everything with six seats of Mastercam Mill Level 3, two
seats of Design, and a seat of Wire.
MC: When did you make the transition from Mastercam
V9 to the Mastercam X family?
Tom: In early 2006. We knew there were new tools in
it that we wanted to use, but we just weren’t sure we
could invest the time in what we thought would be a
very challenging move to the new interface.
MC: What was your biggest concern?
Tom: I was mainly worried about keeping production
up while everyone got comfortable with this big
change. One thing that helped me personally was the
videos that shipped with the software. Just a short 30minute
video was enough to get me going. It took just
an hour or two a day, for a couple of weeks, for me to
feel right at home with it.
MC: Did this technique work for the rest of your
shop and staff?
Tom: Absolutely. Once I was pretty
comfortable with it, I introduced it to my
12 mold makers. I had them all come in
to the conference room and we went
through the videos together. Then I had
them work with it for an hour a day for
the first week, and two hours a day
for the second week. By the end
of the first week, almost everyone
had made the switch, and by
the end of the second week,
no one was going back to
Mastercam version 9 at all.
MC: Did they see a benefit from switching?
Tom: Definitely. My guys found that they could get
their work done better and faster than before, and
we’re getting the most out of our high speed Makino
machining center. We’re easily doing jobs 15-20%
faster now, and we’re running smooth as silk.
MC: Were there any other tools that helped the
transition?
Tom: The Help system seemed to be greatly improved
over past versions and helped us tremendously. They
continue to be an important tool for us. The Help
files are more descriptive now and include examples
with diagrams showing different results from different
settings. It gives a better understanding of the
functions in Mastercam and helps us achieve the
desired results.
MC: Thank you for your time and the valuable
feedback, Tom.
Tom: You’re welcome. Now it’s back to work!
For more information about Dynamic Plastics, visit www.dynamicplastics.com. To see Tom talk about getting up to speed
with the new Mastercam, visit www.mastercam.com/CamZone/VideoTestimonials/ . To find out about their success
with Mastercam on the Segway® Human Transporter, see the article Rapid Short-Run Production Rushs Unique
Product to Market in this newsletter on page 12.