About the Manufacturing Process
A sheet metal manufacturing process consists of the following basic steps:
1. Set up the manufacturing database. It may contain such items as workcells (machine tools) available, tooling, site parameters, etc. If you do not want to set up all your database up front, go directly into the machining process and define any of the items above when you need them.
2. Define an operation. An operation setup may contain the following components:
◦ Operation name
◦ Workcell (machine tool)
◦ Coordinate system for CL output
◦ Operation comments
◦ Operation parameters
The system prompts you to specify a workcell and a coordinate system before you can create NC sequences (the coordinate system is usually defined earlier, at the time the reference parts are nested in the workpiece). Other setup components are optional.
3. Create NC sequences under the specified setup. Each NC sequence is a series of tool motions with the addition of specific post-processor words that are not motion-related but required for the correct NC output. The system automatically generates a tool path based on the NC sequence type (e.g., Nibble Edge, Form, etc.), reference geometry, and manufacturing parameters. For Contouring, you can generate various types of tool paths by referencing model geometry. You can also apply more low level control, if you like, by:
◦ Modifying tool paths generated by the system (e.g., clipping, extending, reversing direction).
◦ Interactively adjusting the tool path. For Contouring, this includes defining approach, exit, corner conditions, shakeaways, and CL commands. For other sheet metal NC sequence types, you can skip or reorder hits that the system generates. You can also insert non-motion CL commands for any type NC sequences.
4. You are required to define NC sequences for only one instance of a reference part on the workpiece. The Populate functionality enables you to copy these tool paths to all other occurrences of this reference part in the manufacturing model.
For each completed NC sequence, you can create a material removal feature, either by making the system automatically remove material (where applicable), or by manually constructing a regular Creo Parametric feature on the workpiece (Slot, Hole, etc.).
Sheet Metal Manufacturing Information Box
Once you click
Tools >
Manufacturing Info., the
Sheet Metal Manufacturing Information dialog box containing the current manufacturing information appears. You can view specific manufacturing information by selecting items in the filter list.