FOCUS ON CAD / CAM aspects separating TCI from its competitors include AWS-certified and R-stamp welds ; custom engineering on architectural parts and custom high-end finishes on copper , brass , stainless and carbon display products .
Its diverse range of fabrication capabilities include ornamental and architectural metal products ; signage and artwork as well as sheet metal products such as wall panels , corner trims and ceiling inserts . Sheet metal parts ; weldments ; structural steel ; pressure vessels and unique metal finishes are typical projects that make their way across TCI ’ s shop floor . Aluminium , carbon steel , stainless steel , brass and copper are the most commonly used materials .
A typical TCI nesting program on RADAN software .
Flexible benefits
“ We have a lot of different machines with a lot of different capabilities , and combining these is like playing chess ,” explained McGinnis . “ It ’ s interesting to see what we can come up with to get the job done , and that ’ s definitely a challenge that I enjoy .”
TCI has a broad range of equipment including a laser cutter ; waterjet cutter ; press brake ; mandrel bender ; CNC lathe ; CNC mills and manual lathes and mills . Part of Jesse McGinnis ’ s job is to decide which combinations of machinery will be the most efficient and best suited to each job .
He was hired by TCI specifically for the fabrication side of the business and was tasked with hand-programming the company ’ s latest laser cutting system . TCI eventually invested in a CNC programming solution for the laser but , over time , found that the system was significantly limited in efficiency and flexibility . After investigating all options for implementing a new sheetmetal solution , TCI made the switch to RADAN software .
“ I felt like RADAN was a better fit for us ,” affirmed McGinnis , who also uses RADAN to program TCI ’ s waterjet cutting system .
One of the benefits , he added , is the ability to edit automatically-generated nests , ensuring that programming control remains with TCI .
“ The ability to edit nests was something that our old software couldn ’ t give us , but with RADAN software we can edit the lead in , lead out , tooling or just edit for cosmetic reasons . We wouldn ’ t be as efficient as we are now without RADAN ’ s nesting software and the system ’ s ability to do what we need .” n
Programming TCI ’ s MAZAK laser cutting system using RADAN CAD / CAM software .
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