Redline CNC, a precision machine shop in Surrey, BC, has a reputation in the Canadian manufacturing community for delivering quality parts, on time and at competitive prices. At least some of that success can be attributed to its CAM software. Founded in 1998, Redline was soon facing new sales opportunities, tight deliveries, and increased part complexity. With the purchase of a twin-pallet Matsuura RA-3F, it needed a CAM package to program it. Owners Lyle Hystad and Paul Mowat boarded a plane to Chicago and attended the IMTS show. They saw many good CAM systems, but settled on Gibbs. “Our first machine was an old Hurco BMC-20 with an Ultimax control, so we were already used to conversational programming. We wanted a CAM product similar in function,” says Hystad.
As Mowat explains, it didn’t take long for Redline to see value from its software investment. “I was the first Gibbs user at Redline. We got the software back to the shop and had it installed, but I didn’t want to wait for training. I just started playing around with it.” Mowat says they were generating NC code within days. “It was very easy to pick up. I eventually took the advanced training course, but not until several months later. That’s a pretty good indication of how intuitive this program is.”
Redline has come a long way since then. From its humble one-machine beginnings, Redline has since moved to a 7000 sq ft facility that houses a variety of high end CNC equipment, from a Doosan 2000 SY twin spindle mill-turn machine to the flagship 34-pallet Matsuura horizontal machining cell. “We use Gibbs throughout the shop,” says Steven Glover, programmer at Redline.
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