drilling issues

[SteveLucas]

Has anyone seen this problem?

I have a part with 12 through hole and 12 counterbores on the holes. When I drill the through holes everyting works fine, But when I counter bore the holes I only get half of them. Very frustrating! No matter how I try and select them it will only cut the six holes.

After searching the knowledge base I see there is a SPR (1984609) up there addressing this issue. I will have to wait for M110 for this to get fixed.

I would think PTC could get these basic machining functions fixed and out to customers a little sooner then having to wait until the next rev. cycle on October 21.

I am running Creo/Wildfire5 M100 by the way

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[BrianParrish]

The company that I work for is small also, under 20 seats of Pro. We have no need for Windchill or any data management software. The life cycle on our products is relatively short. I get the feeling that we are a little more than an after thought to PTC. We have received nothing but outstanding support from our VAR, EAC, I couldn't be happier with them.

The issue that I have is when I have to deal with Tech Support. When there were engineers in the US they were knowledgeable and helpful. If there was an issue a SPR was filed within a few hours. It now takes days and the knowledge level of the support engineers seems to have diminish. They don't really seem to have any real world experience with machining. Which turns a simple issue, that should be obvious, into multiple days of back and forth before a SPR will be filed. At which point I am usually looking for a manager to talk to.

Between the lack of development dollars for the CAM product, the lack luster Tech Support, and the ever increasing complexity of machine tools that are out there we are wondering if Pro/NC is going to be the tool for the future. I know that the grass may not always be greener on the other side. But I think that is time to at least take a look. I am curious to know what it would be like to work with a CAM company that was only focused on machining. I believe that it should be an improvement or at least I can't see how it could be any worse.

Have a great weekend

Brian

[SteveLucas]

Brian,

You are a Huge company to me. We have 3 seats of Pro and no pdm or plm software. We are a small mold shop trying to compete with the big dogs. Most of the time we can. I would hate to throw a new cad or cam package into the mix with a learning curve. It would probably put us out of business. That's why we stick with what we know and use it quite effectively I think.

I was not knocking the vars, they are a very good resource with quite a few knowledgeable people on staff that can usually help. I have never tried taking a bug fix to them first but they might be able to elevate the request quicker than us.

As you say the engineering and support just needs to be better at listening to us small guys as well as the big guns LIke Caterpillar and who ever else that has the ear of the product line managers Like Jose.

[BrianParrish]

We are able to accomplish anything that we need to with Pro/NC, but there seems to be an ever growing list of workarounds that our programmer have to master. We are successful, but I wonder if it couldn't be easier.

I didn't think that you were knocking the VAR's. We have dealt with some really good ones and some really bad ones. EAC is the forth due to a couple having a fall out with PTC. They understand the manufacturing side of things and truly add value to our company.

From attending the conference the last couple of years I have noticed two things. One is there is a real lack of manufacturing content, unless it is related to data management. And even then there are only a couple of presentation concerning it. The second is there seems to be a growing level of frustration with the NC tools from companies both big and small. PTC seems to be trying to catch up to the other CAM solutions that are out there, with the limited resources that are allocated to NC. I would prefer they were a front runner, not trying to catch up from the back of the pack. Hopefully someone at PTC is listening, I know that I have voice my concerns to anyone that would listen. And unfortunately I didn't get a response that put my concerns's to rest. I believe that they are committed to having a CAM solution. It is just a matter of it being a great CAM package or a lack luster one. It will get the job done, just not a elegantly as it could or should.

[SteveLucas]

Brian, Nick,

Thank you both for all the help. This has been an enlightening discussion for me. I think we need some more discussions like this, Maybe with PTC people involved.

Maybe then we can get some enhancements and fixes we all can use to our advantage. A little training would help me too. Last class I took was on rev.18. a couple of .... well never mind. Don't want to date myself. LOL

Have a nice week end guys!!

[BrianParrish]

One thing that I would suggest Steve is getting involved in the Manufacturing Technical Committee. If you are interested I can get you the contact information you need. I know that Nick has recently joined and as a member I would invite you to also.

The problem is there is no advanced training other than the intro class. This is another area that is lacking.

[SteveLucas]

Brian,

I wouldn't mind getting involved with the TC as long as there is no travel involved. as I said earlier this is a very small company not a lot of money for that sort of thing

Best Regards,

Steve

[BrianParrish]

We have multiple Web meetings throughout the year. We normally meet in January at PTC's corporate office in Boston. We also meet following the user conference in June wherever it is located.