Eye on Integration (CAD/CAM Systems)
While its design capabilities are constantly evolving, the modern CAD/CAM system has yet to reach its potential as part of the manufacturing process.
by Jessica Millward, Associate Editor
THE FUTURE OF Computer Aided Design extends far beyond the lines and angles of a diecut pattern. As the converting industry strives to maximize efficiency within the manufacturing process, the communication among all information systems driving production becomes critical. While CAD/CAM systems continue to improve graphic and design capabilities, the ultimate hope for CAD technology is its complete integration with the other information systems employed in packaging manufacture.
The big picture
"A well-designed CAD/CAM system should be the heart of … each manufacturing operation," insists Kevin Carey, editor of DieInfo Magazine. He emphasizes the importance of information gathering to the improvement of the entire converting process: "Each production job requires information at each stage to proceed, each process will generate new or update existing information, and this accumulated knowledge will roll through the process, making each task easier to execute."
Though it may necessitate an overhaul in the fundamentals of CAD/CAM design, the reshaping of the technology as an all-encompassing system is a necessary step in the advancement of package printing. Carey praises the CAD/CAM improvements made in design, graphic image generation, and diecutting integration, but qualifies, "… Although laudable efforts, they continue to ignore the bigger information management picture."
Software manufacturers themselves recognize this need for linked process elements. Yavor Djonev, CEO at EngView Systems, remarks on the value of better connection between the structural design and graphics design/prepress processes. He observes, "… currently sheet layouts are mostly designed with the printing process in mind—if the diecutting process is also considered, this may result in efficiency gains."
Djonev admits there hasn't been revolutionary progress in package design or in CAD/CAM usage outside the design room. New features introduced with upcoming versions of software, however, point to suppliers working toward that aim.
In an attempt to tie CAD sample information to sales generation, Genline Systems President Mike Malcom reports his company has introduced The Sample Assistant, a CAD add-on module. He attests, "Converters and package printers are looking for more detailed ways to track CAD samples made." The Sample Assistant tracks the number of sales created, sample originator, and the salesperson who requested the sample. It also creates reports on how many samples per customer/salesperson are converted into actual orders.
BARCO Graphics' CAD/CAM team has also focused on widening the scope of its design software. Business Development VP Simon James says one of the company's chief goals is to extend the CAD/CAM system to address the needs of non-CAD users. According to James, "Today, companies want the CAD user base extended to include everyone from the customer service representative and the salesman to the manufacturing manager."
Recent requests
Meanwhile, converters also seek more localized benefits in new CAD/CAM software. Printers are looking for precise color information to be communicated along with design details, and that, as in all prepress arenas, is not a simple issue. As Ken Lathan, head programmer and CEO of Kandu software comments, "Accurate reproduction of color, particularly between a self-luminous medium (such as CRT screen or plasma display) and an illuminated medium (paper, cardboard, plastic, etc.) is notoriously difficult to achieve."
Kandu responded to its customers' requests for an efficient translation tool in the mid-1990s with the first version of Bezarc®, an application that converts artwork from Adobe Illustrator® format into files capable of driving a variety of CNC machines. Now in testing, the second version of Bezarc will include a smoothing tool to eliminate kinks and irregularities in imported tool paths.
Communication appears again on converters' most wanted lists, especially in connection with graphic file formats. Michael Collins, president of Collins & Associates and developer of Rules! CAD software for Ashlar-Vellum, observes CAD/CAM users most want "… to have the ability to communicate with other programs/file formats." He also believes ease of use and Web accessibility are key priorities in choosing a CAD/CAM system.
The Rules! software package features DDES and DXF translators, so it can be used as a stand-alone program or as a complement to an existing design system. Additional benefits include the Make Die Sheet function, which creates a new sheet for cutting die development, as well as the Juggernaut tool, which automatically pinpoints and aligns geometry as the operator draws.
BARCO Graphics realized the importance of Web connectivity, and therefore created its WebCenter product, which provides full accessibility to designs over the Internet. As James points out, "We will be using BARCO's technology to provide Web access to integrated CAD and graphics data. The Internet, for all its hype, performs some functions very well." Enabling communication links between customer and printer, he says, is one of them.
The use of a browser, for instance, does away with installation and administration overhead for a new user accessing a system. For the first time it is practical and cost-efficient enough to provide detailed information to all participants in the process, even if they only occasionally need it.
Djonev, too, recognizes the essential role the Web will play in future CAD/CAM development. He maintains integrating CAD functionality into the e-business process is a definite need, and envisions the future self-order Web site, wherein the customer chooses the exact packaging desired and receives estimates for costing, production capability, and timing.
Room to grow
The diecutting/diemaking industry has supported the continuing development of CAD/CAM technology through a spate of corollary equipment improvements. Adams Technology, in association with SDS Korea, recently premiered on-line nicking capability with its EasyBender and EasyCutter products. Adams' VP Ellen Adams notes, with this functionality, the CAD/CAM designer can precisely engineer every aspect of the die set for optimum performance. As soon as the design leaves the CAD department, the dieboard can be burned; the strippers and counters routed; the rule processed, bent, and nicked; and the rubber cut simultaneously. She adds, "The makeready is generally easier, and the presses run at higher speeds with fewer glitches."
With open architecture and a commitment to working with all software suppliers, Data Technology just introduced a new line of new, low-power laser systems. The company also launched a line of automatic rule benders and processors, as well as a waterjet machine for cutting the ejection rubber for steel rule dies.
Foreign exchange
Perhaps the greatest convergence of industry know-how has been realized in the development of the IADD's latest draft for a standard for file exchange, DDES3. The IADD technical committee responsible for the draft, which last met in February of this year, is comprised of representatives from Barco-Artios, Cimex, Genline Systems, Heidelberg, Southeastern Die Co., and the NPES, among others.
Kandu's Lathan, also part of the committee, has been involved in the production of the DDES3 draft since 1993. He points to two of the many issues addressed by the standard: line types and measurement tolerances.
With DDES3, committee members have aimed to establish control over the connection between the type of line drawn on-screen and the physical reality of that line as rendered by the final product. DDES3 provides a standardized set of different line types, Lathan says, to clarify whether a given line represents a perforation, crease, cut, etc.
The much-debated measurement tolerance question has arisen because CNC rule bending machines sometimes reject files because of a very small gap between the end of one curve and the beginning of another. As Lathan states, "It certainly makes sense to reject files that are simply unbuildable, but a gap of 0.0000000001 mm should be ignored."
The DDES3 standard takes the general stance that two points that are close enough should be considered equal, but, as Lathan remarks, "The question of 'How close is close enough?' has sparked many a lively debate."
