JETCAM International s.a.r.l. recently announced the v.20 release of its JETCAM Expert CAM and nesting automation software. Here, JETCAM general manager Martin Bailey walks us through a few new upgrades to the software: 

Performance enhancements to right angle shear (RAS) and automatic sheet processing (ASP) logic

"We made improvements to the RAS algorithm, specifically in relation to small sheets (YY), which makes it run significantly quicker."

Remote control processing commands

"RCP is a scripting language that allows external applications to instruct JETCAM to perform functions, such as CAD import, component design or nesting. Some of the new commands relate to tooling libraries (such as main, sub and multi-tool) for punching machines, which allow default settings to be overridden externally. This gives external apps the same control as if the user were in front of their JETCAM system. Many of our customers use JETCAM in ‘black box’ full-automation mode. JETCAM Expert will just sit in the background, being automatically controlled, either by our applications such as JETCAM Orders Controller (JOC) or by MRP systems."

What is one issue that this new update resolves and how does this serve the user?

"A lot of work was done on the second release of JET-Cut, our automatic fly cutting, based on customer feedback. This allows it to be automatically applied in more scenarios, with microjoints being either automatically or manually placed, depending on the customer’s wishes. (In our tests (with the first release), parts can be cut significantly quicker with JET-Cut — often 40-50 percent faster — because the machine cuts grids of holes by ‘snaking’ across them rather than cutting each hole individually. Also, we place a radius on the path, so when the machine changes direction the head does not have to stop. (The above image demonstrates this). There are many, many changes that have been done to JET-Cut since the first release in April – too many to list here, and many are very small changes that would only be applied in a small number of scenarios."

Improvements to automatic turret nesting and new interface functionality

"A number of major changes were made as to how automatic turret nesting works across all of our nesting modules (rectangular, free form and high performance). One example is that it now takes into account parts designated for ‘web nesting.’ Additional sorting options were also added, including priority and date of delivery."