Need some MC support.

[Jammer™]

Hey guys, I have been running MC for about 8 yrs. now. The "person" in charge of updating, purchasing, etc,etc, our software has been at a tool show and started checking into "other" cam packages. We are in the mold building buisness. Any of you that uses MC for this knows the versatillity and ability it offers. All these "other" cam systems he has been looking at won't have the capabilities that we have with MC. I know because I have checked them myself. We are running MC v8.1 now, and I have given him a printout on the v9 upgrade. He doesn't seem interested, and is seeming hardcore about getting rid of Mc all together. I don't want to see this happen. Anyone with some solid arguements about why we should keep MC and go to v9? I will relay the replies, and hopefully convince him otherwise. Thanks

[Charles Davis]

Version 9 3D toolpaths are much faster and versatile than ever before.

 

I can't say much, but since I get to attend the annual conference, all I can say is that you will be very happy with where the product is going over the next few years, and that many of these enhancements will directly benefit your company.

 

It's come to the point where you need to ask yourself, why would you NOT buy Mastercam?

 

Since you already have it, it seems like a tremendous waste of money,time,effort to get something else in; because I think you'll find that you will end up using Mastercam to make your parts anyway.

[Zero]

Ummmmm...the tens of thousands of dollars that have already been spent on Mc for 1. Are they really willing to throw all that money spent and all the man hours spent training to get some "almost" as good replica of the best? This was also being considered where I worked and I talked them out of that thought real quick. If the money does not matter, maybe its time to show them what Mastercam CAN do that the others CANT.

[Kevin Goddard]

Does the "other" cam software have a support forum like this? I doubt it. How about their support in general. This place is invaluable to me. Just my 2 cents.

[TheePres]

Argument #99-- MC users are dime a dozen. J/K but might convince someone.

[Jack Mitchell]

jammer,

 

What this other person has seen at the tool show, is the usual dog & pony BS that is always shown.

Don’t tell him – but let’s hope he buys into it and drops a wad of cash while doing so.

It’s his head that will be up his arse, not yours, when it all hits the fan.

Funny thing when a purchasing agent or the Engineering Manager makes these business decisions – they don’t seem to be around when the General Manager expects the molds to be completed & shipped in a reasonable amount of time; In-fact they won’t be around at all given a few months of saying “I called the support help line” “They have never heard of this problem before” “It will be addressed in their newest update within the month” “the salesman swears it’s a computer glitch caused by bad video drivers”

Blah, blah, blah, - does any person out there know what it’s like to take the daily beating from an irate customer?

Surly the competitor’s product is taught in thousands of community colleges as well.

 

Regards, Jack

[Philcott]

Jammer,

 

Maybe you need to have a meeting with the purchaser and some of the higher-ups to discuss the problem. Let them know about all the advantages you believe mc has. Mention the time invested in all the programs already written in mc, the proficiency factor of the programmers who use mc, the learning curve of the new software, the fact mc is in so many educational centers which makes finding new workers trained in the software that much easier, show them this forum and let them see how fast other users freely respond to the questions of others. All of these reasons don't even include what the software itself can do to.

 

And if all else fails, just show them James's avatar and tell them this is what a top calibur mastercammer (mastercamite,mastercamian?? ) is like and damit I want to be one too.

 

Sometimes it can be tough when those who don't use the software make the decisions that affect them that do. All you can do is go in with positive reasons that you believe mc would be the best choice and hopefully they will see your point of view.

 

Good Luck,

Phil

 

p.s. James, love the beannie.

[Mick]

Also, what other CAM system has the post flexibility that Mastercam has? I've used several other systems, and their posts suck compared to Mastercam. I bet your hot shot purchasing guy didn't factor the cost of post processors into the equation, and all the time spent tweaking them to provide the quality output you will be getting at the moment.

[P_Scott]

jammer,

 

What it comes down to is the investment of time, which is money, and what it would cost your management to get into another cam system. That alone is an argument for maintaining the Mastercam seat. Also the amount of support you receive through your reseller and other resources. You won't find a larger or more experienced reseller base for any other software package out there. Mastercam has the most amount of file converters, so you can receive files from anybody. Because of the toolpath associativity, you can program one part ONCE, and take that same data and use it again on something similar. Family of parts let's say. Simply change the size of your next part, regen the toolpath and save it as a new part. That's time savings. Why invest in something new, different, and not as easy to use? As well as not having the support base that you already have with Mastercam. Updating is the least expensive solution as well. Where else can you get the latest version of the software for 10% of what it would cost you brand new? And that's not every year either. When it comes right down to it, they will be interested in the bottom dollar. Tell them they will spend ten to twenty times as much by investing in another package instead of updating Mcam and they'll see the light. Ask your resller for an update quote and then you'll have amunition. Good Luck. HTH