New Video - Machining Cycletime Estimating with KipwareCYC® from Kentech Inc.

No matter what you are using to produce your cost estimates and quotations ... if you are not realistically estimating your machining cycletime ... you are still GUESSTIMATING. Basing your labor charges on quesses or pie-in-the-sky cutting parameters that result in inaccurate machining cycletimes will still produce inaccurate cost estimates and lost profits.

Since 1986, over 25+ years, our proven-in-the-trenches cycletime estimating software ... KipwareCYC® ... has been providing accurate and fast machining cycletimes that insure that the KEY FACT to successful cycletime estimates is achieved. What is the KEY FACT to accurate cycletime estimates ... THAT THE MACHINING CONDITIONS AND PARAMETERS USED IN THE ESTIMATE CAN ACTUALLY BE REPRODUCED ON YOUR SHOP FLOOR.

Book knowledge ... theoretical speeds and speeds ... fancy speed and feed calculators ... don't do ANY GOOD if those parameters cannot be reproduced on YOU SHOP FLOOR. The numbers sound and look good ... are easy to obtain with those fancy calculators or speed and feed software ... but if they are not being used on your shop floor your estimated time vs. actual time will not be accurate and your cycletime estimates will not be accurate. The result ... longer actual cycletimes and lost profits.

Why and How is KipwareCYC® different?
Check out this past post that lays it all out in detail :
http://kentechinc.blogspot.com/2013/07/accurate-machining-cycletime-estimating.html

Click the image or link above to explore the How's and Why's of
ACCURATE CYCLETIME ESTIMATING

With a New Year upon us and all the possibilities that lay ahead ... are you ready to
STOP GUESSTIMATING and START ESTIMATING ??

We created a new training video that illustrates the process of creating a machining cycletime estimate using our KipwareCYC® application. Why not give it a look?

Click the image above to view this new KipwareCYC® Video Presentation

Click the image above to schedule a live, online demonstration of our KipwareCYC® software.

Click the image above to visit our website and view additional information on KipwareCYC®

Kenney Skonieczny - President

Kentech Inc.

New KipwareM® Menus Released

In addition to all our other development ... we managed to squeak a couple of great new conversational cycles / menus into our KipwareM® - Conversational CNC Programming Software for Milling. Check 'em out ... they will be shipping standard as of Tuesday ... 3/26/2013.

Qualify Stock : In this menu users can create a cycle to machine one or two ends of a workpiece to qualify the length. Options include zig-zag cutting, climb milling or conventional milling for both roughing and / or finishing ... and users can select to machine the left side and / or the right side. Finish cutting can include cutter comp also if user selected. 

As in all milling menus ... this cut can be rotated at any angle so even though the image is left and right ... choosing a rotation angle of 90 degrees would cause the cutting at the top and the bottom.

O Ring Groove : This menu will allow users to create a cycle to rough and / or finish an O ring type groove on the top surface of the part. Options will include roughing and / or finishing ... finishing of the bottom surface ... and the ability to employ cutter comp for the finish cut.

Seems like the development is non-stop here at Kentech Inc. and we are so excited to be able to bring some great new menus that include tons of great real world machining options to KipwareM®. This is what happens when real machinists create machining software !!

Enjoy ...

Kenney Skonieczny - President
Kentech Inc.

New Construction ... Wuts Up !!

As we reach the end of the first quarter ... we would like to take a look back and a look ahead at what's been going on and what's coming up here at Kentech Inc..

We pride ourselves on delivering the best and most "real world" software products to the metalworking industry ... as our past post illustrates ... we work very hard toward that goal. Take a look here at last years pile of work as an example : http://kentechinc.blogspot.com/2012/12/wow-what-year-heres-what-we.html

So far in 2013 ... after only 2.5 months ... here's a checklist of our development work :

• We delivered a total re-write using .NET4 for our extremely popular Kipware® CNC XChange - Fanuc <--> Okuma Conversion software ... got it all ready for the future and added a ton of new and innovative features.
• We delivered a new conversational CNC programming application for Wire EDM, Waterjet and Plasma programming ... KipwareW®. We combined our older KipwareEDM® and KipwareJT® into a new product with lots of new features and enhancements ... with an interface that mimicks our other Kipware® conversational titles so integration is easy.
• We developed two new websites that key in on our business software ... www.MachineShopSoftware.com ... and our conversational software ... www.Kipware.com. These sites will help users not only find our products quicker and easier ... but will allow them access to sites dedicated to the type of products in which they have the most interest.
• Now that we revamped KipwareM® last year ... adding new and innovative features is quick and easy for our development team. In February we released (5) great new features including RAMPING, CUSTOM EIA CYCLES, MULTI-LOCATIONS for round pocketing and helical milling ... along with an increase in the number of cycles that can be associated with a single operation from (5) to (10).

And that's only in 2.5 months !!

What are we working on now !!
Here's a peek into the development construction site and what will soon be released :

• We are finalizing a complete re-write for our KipwareXC® - G Code Conversion software. We've added a brand new state-of-the-art interface using .NET4 along with TONS ... and I mean TONS ... of new and innovative features and conversion options. Release is expected mid-April ... stay tuned.
• Y AXIS MILLING for KipwareT®. We have started importing features we already have available for milling in KipwareM® and adapting them to a new Y AXIS MILLING option for KipwareT®. This will add another level of conversational programming for turning centers that will include KipwareT® for turning ... the Live Tool option for C axis drilling and milling ... and now the Y Axis option for Y axis milling. Release is also expected in April ... stay tuned.
• We have picked up our search for additional VAR's ( Value Added Resellers ) to enable easier access to our products ... a win-win for everyone involved. If you are interested in reselling Kipware® software ... please visit our Dealer page here : http://www.kentechinc.com/dealer.shtml

And that's just what is slated for one month ... April !!!

We continue to be inspired and driven by the famous words of chef @Emeril Lagasse ... "BAM ... Let's kick it up a notch !!"

Does your software provider deliver innovations and enhancements at a pace like this?
What has your software maintenance agreement got you in 2.5 months?

And don't be fooled by simple, underdeveloped "wizards". Kipware® conversational has fought to bring conversational programming out of the world of "wizards", after-thoughts and add-ons and into the world of professional programming applications since 1986. Kipware® has the real features for real world machining.

DUMP the Wizards ... 
GO PRO with Kipware® Conversational !!


Kenney Skonieczny - President
Kentech Inc.

"That should take us about 2 minutes ... "

"That should take us about 2 minutes to machine." ... Is that how your machining cycletime estimating process goes? If so ... you are losing money ... plain and simple.

I would say that most of our clients who request a Webex demonstration of our KipwareCYC® software answer the question "So how do you estimate your cycletime currently?" in a similar fashion. Inevitably most pass it on to the machinist on the floor or the production manager or the manufacturing engineer ... and they provide the machining time estimate. And when we push a little harder ... it turns out that most usually use the scientific form of GUESSTIMATING to arrive at their times based on their 30+ years or so of machining.

The fact of the matter is that even with all that machining background ... their cycletime estimate is still a guesstimate ... and cost estimates produced from that will be incorrect. No matter what you are using for cost estimating ... if the cycletime estimate is incorrect it could lead to winning work ... but work that just loses money.

The other side of the coin is the "feature recognition" software that claim they can produce a cycletime estimate based on a solid model. So now we go from a free guess to a very high priced software application ... but the result is probably the same ... inaccurate times. Why? That high priced app probably can figure a machining cycletime estimate based on that 3D model ... but the key is will the machining process it determines be the same process that will take place on your shop floor? Will the speeds and feeds it calculates be the same speeds and feeds that will be produced on your shop floor? Probably not ... and that means the time it calculated is no better than a guesstimate.

The key to accurate cycletime estimating is simple ... make certain that the machine specs, cutting process and parameters used accurately reflect what will happen on your shop floor. Period.

KipwareCYC® is real world cycletime estimating software that was developed in the real world over years of providing time estimates for machine justification and time estimates for high volume production. KipwareCYC® will provide you with consistency ... and most important accuracy ... in your cycletime estimating process. The real world design and features of KipwareCYC® will insure that machine specs and cutting parameters utilized in the estimate will accurately reflect what happens on your shop floor. In fact ... the design insures that the more you use KipwareCYC® ... the more accurate it becomes !!!

Want to learn more ... we invite you to visit www.KentechInc.com or www.MachineShopSoftware.com and explore KipwareCYC® in more detail.

Better yet ... why not arrange for a personal online demonstration and let us show you how we can back up our claims ... click here to set one up.

Kenney Skonieczny - President
Kentech Inc.