Myth or fact: CAM systems that offer push-button automation tell machinists how to program their parts. If you said it’s a myth you’re absolutely right. It’s actually the other way around. In an automated CAM system, the programmer dictates to the system how parts are to be machined.

So how did this myth become so prevalent? It probably started when CAM software developers, in an attempt to assist users new to automation technology, pre-loaded what were thought to be industry-standard machining parameters into the system. We all know that machinists have their own thoughts on the matter, so it’s impossible to come up with any “standard” that will make everyone happy.

The pre-loaded defaults were only meant to serve as examples to guide the user, but they were misconstrued as vendor recommendations. In other words, it seemed as though the system was telling programmers what to do.

It’s time to dispel the myth and provide some concrete examples showing how to make an automated CAM system do what it’s supposed to do: make your job faster and easier.