The Rigibore® Advanced Design System – RADS™ – epitomises Rigibore®’s commitment to improving manufacturing efficiency – chiefly involving our specialisation in the manufacture of Specials.
In continuous development for the last 15 years, RADS™ is a software solution that enables Rigibore® to dramatically reduce the time between receiving a requirement for a Special tool design/requirement and being able to deliver a finished tool to the customer.
It does this principally by reducing and in large part automating the task of translating the customer requirement into a new tool design.
Using a collection of standard parts and features such as fixed pockets for insert location or tool tips located in adjustable cartridge units, special boring bars are designed and assembled essentially as unique combinations of standard components.
The extent of the computerised 3D database of such standard parts and machining methods enables the RADS™ software – via proprietary algorithms – to compute a design that will reliably complete the customer's machining requirement.
Explains Rigibore®’s Dr Steve Harris, Project Manager, Software development: “the automated aspects of the system are something that will just keep on improving in functionality. Because, over time, more and more parameters are fed into the system’s database – and the software’s governing laws and algorithms are continually tweaked – RADS™ just keeps on getting better. In a sense, it’s very much an organic entity.”
Recently, for instance, by linking to commercially available CAM software RADS™ has been successfully developed to generate full machining simulations of a given tool before any metal is cut. It means engineers can calculate, step-by-step, what manufacturing procedures are necessary and, in the event of any manufacturing conflicts, enables NC instructions to be modified before dispatch to the shop floor.
Married to our substantial manufacturing capacity this means a quicker, more accurate and more efficient manufacturing environment. It also means that Rigibore® can dramatically reduce delivery times compared to the competition – whereas without RADS™ engineers might spend up to a week designing a new tool, now a design can be evoked within hours.
The product requirement to product delivery process can be illustrated as follows:
Download a brochure on RADS™ here