looking to get into contract cnc programing

[mazaker]

Any suggestions.

[Boots]

Good Luck......for the most part ....shops do their own programming for they would have to pay you several more $$$ then the in house person. It's not cost effective to contract outside programmers. Plus what about estimating and bidding on jobs. Are companies going to rely on your programming to make them money in the quickest time possible? They may desire it but probably won't get it.

[CNCRim]

Depend what is your company doing, how big the shop is, the best option is hire someone in house. if the shop is big enough like 8+ machines then hire an experience programmer just to program, and if small shop pay the guy one or two dollar extra to do setup and program. Seem a lot to hire a person but save a lot $$$$$$$$$$ that's way, the draw back is not easy to find that person if hire to wrong person for job blah blah....... scew up your production.

[DIFF OVER]

There are several around my area. One only works on one brand of machine, one has clients from MN to Chicago. Since many shops are busy, do not have the internal talent, or do not have enough new projects to keep a good programmer with cad/cam, set up and real world cutting knowledge busy, you canmake it work.

There are options. Iwould ask you:

What do you have for tools to get it done?
legally owned cad/cam, laptop, website, ftp, network

How will you bring value to the end user?
only new work, fixture concept and design, prototype, turnkey, email and phone support

Can you handle machines and controls you have never seen or heard of before?

[TruePrecision]

Hello All,

My name is Bryan Felsher, owner of True Precision. We are a Catia V5 based CAD/CAM/CAE services bureau, and 90% of our work involves CNC programming. Having been in business for 4 years, now, I have strong opinions on the pro's/con's of outsourcing CNC programming. In 4 years, work has always remained steady, and my earnings have topped the highest paid NC programming jobs in the country.

A little background: I have 16 years in Aerospace....started sweeping a shop floor, then a machinist running every machine there is, then a CNC operator, then CNC programmer, then NC programming supervisor, then General Manager. I worked full-time at just 5 places. Lastly, I am now a business owner, and this is my full time occupation for the last 4 years, with just under 50 different customers (gives me a good chance to see what the trends are, and how MANY different shops do things). My customers range from small mom and pop shops, medium sized businesses, and large OEM aircraft manufactures.

CONS= NONE for customer...For me, I have to pay my own office, software, maintenance, post-processors, insurance, quarterly taxes, vacations, sick time, and it's like having 50 bosses when you have 50 customers!

PROS= For customer: perfect parts on first attempt, excellent production ready programs, time savings on machine, lower tooling costs, turn-key part manufacturing, $$$ saved on software, maintenance, insurance, benefits, and wages. For me: $$$ earned, take vacation when I want (can), work my own hours, make my own decisions, and it's a lot of fun sometimes.

Okay- the main body of my opinion...

99% of my programs make a perfect part on first attempt. Companies come to me with the most difficult parts in the Aerospace industry. They pay me per job, not per hour. They don't have to pay software licenses, benefits, or insurance. What they get is a perfect program, documented very thoroughly. For example, I have 36 parts right now waiting for programming. I supply thorough run-books. Very thorough. More pictures, than words, as words can be misinterpreted. Complete sequence of operations- they know exactly what each tool will do. I rarely get phone calls asking questions about how to run my jobs. It's all there in the runbook.

At the moment, I support over 100 different machine/control configurations. This is constantly growing. Not only do I have the ability to write my own executable post-processors from scratch, using a text editor, and a basic compiler, I also purchase and resell custom post-processors from AZPost (NCData Services), which are the most powerful, cost-effective post-processors in the world, written in FORTRAN. Knowing that I must make a perfect part the first time, every time, and knowing that I will have to support a huge number of machines, as a contractor, I had to make my post-processing decision very carefully. Hands down- AZPost is the best. I use a licensed version of Catia V5 software- the most powerful CAD/CAM/CAE software in the world. This is why it is the system of choice by nearly all of the big OEM's in aerospace and automotive. It is also very expensive! Customers can take on Catia jobs, because I have it. They save the software costs.

If a shop can find a good programmer, which is extremely difficult to find these days, than yes- they are better off to have an in-house programmer, if they can keep him busy. In all other cases, it is more cost effective to outsource to me. I will provide programs that run efficiently, and make a good part on the first attempt. That alone, is worth outsourcing to me. For instance, I recently received 4 parts, where the customer required a run-time per part of 9.5 hours total. This is a high-volume production 5-axis job. I supplied programs where each part had a total run-time of only 3.5 hours. They are making a killing on it now in production.

CNC contract programming is definitely the way to go for many shops. But, the programmer MUST have the ability to make a perfect part on first try 99% of the time. He must possess excellent English and communication skills, and be able to make good documentation. He must be extremely thorough, and organized and follow a strict Digital Product Definition manual. He must possess excellent business skills, in order to manage his company, taxes, and affairs. He must possess excellent customer service skills, remaining calm, and asking the right questions. He must have access to legal services, and pay for his own medical insurance, and have some means of protecting himself against fraud, and deadbeat customers. There's much more...too much to list. For these reasons, I have been successful in my endeavor, and enjoy my work very much. It is definitely not for everyone, and I have seen many give it a shot, only within a year, to give up and take a day job. I don't blame them one bit. Day job= stability, benefits, leave work behind when you go home, and get pats on the back. My pat on the back, is getting paid quickly. Like being a professional gambler, it's a hard way to make an easy living. There's a lot of pressure, as the parts are always unrelentingly difficult and you MUST make delivery.

The key is to give your word, and keep it, and expect the same from your customers.

My contact info can be found through my website.

Best regards,
Bryan Felsher
Owner- True Precision
Website: www.trueprecisioncnc.com

[uncleray]

Just joined this group to read through the forums hoping to gain contacts.
What I hope to find for is a service that will lathe custom wooden chess pieces
that are designed with Blender 3D.
I saw your post and wanted to wish you success.
Ray

[harryn]

Originally Posted by uncleray Just joined this group to read through the forums hoping to gain contacts. What I hope to find for is a service that will lathe custom wooden chess pieces that are designed with Blender 3D. I saw your post and wanted to wish you success. Ray

Hi Ray,

Welcome

I would post your request in the RFQ section. Another path would be to look for experienced people posting in the wood working area of the forum and send a PM to them.