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Hi Everyone,
My company is AS9100 certified. Part of our operation is a small machine shop. I have questions about what software needs to be controlled and validated, to what extent and what constitutes validation of NC programs that are input into our 5 axis CNC milling machine.
As far as I understand, the machinist either gets a CAD or Inventor drawing and re-draws the part as a feature cam file. Alternately, he will get a STEP file that is then translated into a feature cam file. The feature cam file is what is actually fed into the machine to control the machining process. According to the production team, the machinist will make tweaks to the feature cam file. This will include feed rates, different cutters, cutter path, etc... The end result is the same, it just takes a bit of time to get the file set up so that it makes the part in the most efficient way.
Ok, so now for the questions:
1. How much and what type of control is required for STEP or feature cam files? Should the machinist be tweaking these files as he goes?
2. What constitutes verification of these files? Up until now, we have been using the inspection of the product to verify the output of the software. If the product passes inspection, then the file is verified. What records should we be keeping to show evidence of verification of these feature cam files?
3. Does the feature cam file need to be re-verified every time that the machinist makes a tweak?
Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thank you.
My company is AS9100 certified. Part of our operation is a small machine shop. I have questions about what software needs to be controlled and validated, to what extent and what constitutes validation of NC programs that are input into our 5 axis CNC milling machine.
As far as I understand, the machinist either gets a CAD or Inventor drawing and re-draws the part as a feature cam file. Alternately, he will get a STEP file that is then translated into a feature cam file. The feature cam file is what is actually fed into the machine to control the machining process. According to the production team, the machinist will make tweaks to the feature cam file. This will include feed rates, different cutters, cutter path, etc... The end result is the same, it just takes a bit of time to get the file set up so that it makes the part in the most efficient way.
Ok, so now for the questions:
1. How much and what type of control is required for STEP or feature cam files? Should the machinist be tweaking these files as he goes?
2. What constitutes verification of these files? Up until now, we have been using the inspection of the product to verify the output of the software. If the product passes inspection, then the file is verified. What records should we be keeping to show evidence of verification of these feature cam files?
3. Does the feature cam file need to be re-verified every time that the machinist makes a tweak?
Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thank you.