Unigraphics CAM

Has anyone here used UG in a small shop environment? I'm using Solid edge, Smartcam and Edgecam now, and I've been offered a seat of UG to upgrade from Smartcam at a very attractive price. I'd like to hear from someone who has used it about your experience, and how easy/difficult it is to use on a less than everyday basis. I'm afraid it's so complex that it'll be too much to pick up after not using it for a few weeks - is that true?

I used Unigraphics in a LARGE shop environment several years ago. I have used (or at least played with) most of the popular CAD/CAM packages out there today and although it's been a couple of years since I've used UG, I still think it is one of the best there is. There is a steep learning curve but once it's learned I don't think you would easily forget it. I could probably go back to it after all these years and pick most of it up fairly quickly. UG is geared more towards the bigger shops, in my opinion. I now work at a place that only has about 30 employees and as much as I like UG, I think it would be overkill for a shop our size.

what the hell are you talking about.

Atetsade,
UG stands for UniGraphics. They make CAD/CAM software. It is used to program your CNC machine tools directly from the CAD models.
I have personally never used UG. Gibbscam I believe has a smartcam discount as well that may be of interest to you.

Doug--

I guess that doesn't make much sense, does it. And I guess if we are just talking about the CAM module only, then what you say is kinda true. But if were talking about the full blown UG package I think it is overkill for a small shop, especially one that does not have it's own product line and is just doing farm-out work for the big shops.

UG maintains an associativity not only between a particular part and its toolpaths, but it maintains associativity with the entire assembled unit. So if you add a hole to a mounting bracket, for instance, UG not only updates the toolpaths for that part, but also for the mating part. And the bill of materials for that assembly is updated to show you're going to need one more bolt.

There are strict conventions that must be followed in the manner in which the CAD drawings must be done so that everything works together and so that when the parts are made to the UG geometry, they will fit like a glove.

So I guess if you were going to take part drawings from someone else and just program some toolpaths to cut the part, UG would work in a small shop as well as a large one. But there are less expensive and less complicated options if you don't need all that.

I've got an early version of SOLID EDGE ORIGIN by Unigraphics. I installed it a year or two ago and never really got the chance to try it out very well but what I did see is that it worked smoothly and intuitively. Without even reading the tutorials I created a simple part and machined it. It's still installed on my old computer. Maybe I'll have to fire it up and try it some more, when time allows.

E-Stop - thanks for your feedback. We make our own products and do a lot of R&D, make many changes in programs, and have families of parts to design and program. I bought Solid Edge and Edgecam because they were promoted as allowing associativity between the model and the program, but 5 years later, it's still not really what I was promised, and I spend a lot of time compensating for the shortcomings. Also I forsee getting into parts with surfaces not easily modeled in Solid Edge, which would require investing in something like Rhino and upgrading Edgecam. So, I can buy and learn more software, coordinate 3 programs through their various releases and pay 3 maintenance fees per year, or punt and buy UG for slightly more $ (Maintenance on UG is $4200/yr)and have it all integrated in one. Seems like just an exercise in logic, but I'm concerned about the $ and the ease of use of UG. I couldn't justify more seats of UG as easily as more seats of Solid Edge or Edgecam so it's more of a commitment in that respect. The biggest worry is how long it takes someone to get up to speed in UG. The first training class of just how to navigate around in UG and create geometry w/no programming is 5 days long - is that a true indication of how complex this is? I learned Solid Edge and Edgecam just by poking around in the tutorials and taught others the basics the same way and they built up from there. If I have to spend a week away from the shop to learn UG and have to send others away to week long classes, that's not a trivial investment. I'd love to have the functionality of UG, but not if the time spent to get it is counterproductive. What do you think?

If you and your guys are aleady familiar with SolidEdge and EdgeCam, you should be able to pick up UG fairly easy, in my opinion. The classes I took were 40 hours each for the CAD/Solids module and the Manufacturing module. The classes were geared towards the novice so the first day was really slow just going over the basics. Then the instructor picked up the pace and we got a lot covered. You're not going to learn everything in a week but you can learn alot. After all, no matter which CAD package you use a line is still a line, and an arc is still an arc, ect, ect. You just need to learn where the menu picks are at and how to apply them.

The Manufacturing module was easier to learn (for me anyway). Most of the stuff there was pretty cut and dry. Most of the guys in that class picked up on it real quick and then we got into stuff to make our lives easier such as setting up tool libraries and macros to automate some of the processes.

All in all I think UG is one of the top programs out there, but that's just my opinion. Probably because it was one of the first real CAD/CAM systems I really got to use alot and I got really good at it. Since then I have used many of the popular CAD/CAM packages available today and most of them are great programs but none have given me that warm cozy feeling I got with UG.

It is important to have a GOOD systems person to get everything up and running, coordinated and tied together. That might have been why my UG experience was so good, the fact that we had a full time systems guy keeping everything in line and rejecting drawings and things if the format wasn't right. Having a behind the scenes guy to keep everything flowing is very important. Without him there to inforce standards and methods, chaos would surely have taken over.

I know I've been rambling and maybe even talking in circles but my experience with UG was nothing less than spectacular. With the same amount of resources and a GOOD systems guy, maybe any of the top packages would be just as good. I've not had the luxury of having that kind of internal support with any of the other systems I have used so maybe I'm not making a fair comparison.

Thanks for the encouragement, E-stop. I guess I'll have to shake the piggy bank and get another more explicit demo to see what I can do in it. The new NX2 UG looks a lot like Solid Edge - in fact the drafting module is almost completely lifted from SE. I guess I'm a little gunshy because I've been disappointed with expensive software several times.

By the way, SE Origin is based on SE ver. 7 - the latest release is ver 14 and it's much nicer .

Thanks again

I just got back from Anaheim where EDS/PLM held a 5 day world conference which focused on UG and Teamcenter. They discussed how the NX2 was going to make life easier. We are using UG V18 now and are looking at upgrading to NX3 when it comes out. I found it very difficult to completely learn after using SmartCam and Surfcam for so long. There is just so much that it can do it is hard to figure out how to start. I think If I was you I would just take the intro class and then explore from there. I am trying to figure out sketcher now so I can do my on modeling.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

Has anyone mastered UG post builder and can give a novice some basics?

Hi E-stop.Have you any experience with cadcam for punchpresses.Was looking at Radan,but they`re talking $13500.This is our first cnc punch so we`re really short on experience.Need a system that can handle auto-index and banana tools.
Have also been looking for forums specialising in this.Plenty CadCam but no punchpress.
Any suggestions welcome.
regards,Mark.

Mudflap...The company that bought the SmartCAM
name from SDRC and reunited a bunch of the Point Control programmers has announced that a new release will be out this November with some other modules to follow. You may want to hold off on a change and see what they have to offer.

www.smartcamcnc.com