thinking about buying pro-e

[cncclimber]

hey there! my company is looking for a new cam program and I think I have narrowed it down to 2 contenders: Pro-e and edgecam. I am leaning toward edgecam due to the post processor generator it has but am a little concerned about drawing in it. how easy is pro-E to draw in? anyone here have experience in both programs? as a shop we dont have much experience in cam programs but realize we need to start using something besides our teeny tiny brains . I am thinking about suggesting adding solidworks to whatever program we get, but if Pro-E is jsut as good/easy as solidworks that could be a determining factor. Thanks for any insight/suggestions.

P.S. also we just bought an okuma multus which is a 7 axis lathe with a b axis head and y axis capability and sub-spindle with full c-axis on both spindles. will pro-e handle that?

[CAD/CAM Man]

It really depends on your application. If you are going to use the program from start to finish, i.e. design concept to finished part, I believe the Pro/E is your program. PTC’s (the company that writes Pro/E) philosophy is that the design part(s) will drive the entire design process (drawings, assemblies, manufacturing models that create g-code to drive the machine tools) by being parametrically linked. That is to say that as the part changes, all drawings, assemblies, and machine programs will automatically update with it. I would caution: Pro/E is not an easy program to learn how to use. The learning curve is pretty steep, and you will need to learn more than just one aspect of the entire program to create design parts, drawings and manufacturing models, just to be able create g-code programs. I have been using it in a practical environment for more than 15 years, (the past 4 have been teaching it at a university) so I feel like I can talk from as position of authority when it comes to Pro/E. If you decide to go with it, I would be happy to help you get up and running. Please feel free to IM me for more help.

[cncclimber]

I appreciate the info, what you say seems to be the general consesus. I keep hearing that is is hard to learn but good. I am also hearing that for a 7 axis with b axis head is not what it is good at. we have a customer(large corporation with many seats) that uses it and they really like it, so it was put into the mix to look at. after many warnings from people about its difficulty and lack of support for complicated machines we tossed the idea.

[sinderal]

Does EdgeCam already show you the NC programs for the Okuma Multus and run on that machine? The Mill/Turn Simualtion of EdgeCam and Esprit are fancy and attracktive!


I just know most of CAD/CAM could handle the Miil/turn Operation but not most of CAD/CAM could output correct NC Programs for Mazak Integrex, Mori Seiki MT-1500, 2000............etc. (The more impartant thing is the Post, how much for the extra cost of the Post for your Okuma Multus from PTC or EdgeCam?)

[cncclimber]

Well thanks for the reply, but we bought Esprit about 5 months ago. Yes you are correct in them looking good but not outputting the code correctly. I really like the flexibility that Esprit has, but the post they told us was for the machine is a total piece of crap! the customer support is second to none though and we are getting it figured out. I have been struggling with both a new machine and a new program all at the same time, the post doing ridiculous things made it even harder, but they are currently re-writing the post for me and things are looking much much better.