o/t Mastercams Competetion

[jeff]

Is anyone familiar with another cad/cam software called Onecnc?

It costs $3,500 and they claim it can do all of they 3D work that mastercam can do.

If anyone knows of this software,can you tell me whether I should buy that instead of upgrading to mill level 3 so I can do more than 1 surface at a time?

I feel guilty writing this on mastercam's own forum,but my boss wanted me to,so blame him.

LOL.

[Dan Bedore]

Jeff

 

I don't know anything about onecnc but I can tell you that Mastercam rules. Why else do they say it can do everything that mastercam does? for the last 4 years I have been cutting molds up to 10'*10'*27" with a 5 axis machine plus i machine in true 5 axis. if you did buy the other software where would you go for help? sales people will tell you any thing to get you to buy. as you see if you have a mastercam Question you can ask it out here and get help. go to onecnc's web site if they have one and see what kind of help you get. maybe mastercam is costly but i think down time crashes and lack of support are more costly in the long run.

[jeff]

You do have a point Dan.

I currently have Mill level 2 with solids.

Although our shop doesn't do any mold work,we are a job shop and sometimes I need to program parts with multiple surfaces.

Don't get me wrong,I absolutely love Mastercam,but our shop cannot afford the level 3 upgrade at this time,and probably not for awhile.

[iowajim62]

Hi jeff,

 

Well I just went on their site and training is in Austrailia. With that said and seeing your from Michigan how's your Boss gonna like spending all that "Saved" money to send you on a sweet vacation for "Training" ? As far as use goes here in the States, it can't be very high or else everybody and his brother would have a demo or something to check out by now.

Keep Mastercam and upgrade in my opinion.

[Guest CNC Apps Guy 1]

Well Jeff,

 

If your boss is looking at that software to purchase, upgrading from Mill Level 3 to Mill Level 3 is a bit more, but with TONS more functionality. Here's the other thing, OneCNC is selling their product at a loss to get it out there. Not exactly a good business model in an already saturated market. Here's what I see happening in the next 5 years more consolidations/mergers to gain market-share. There are a finite number of shops out there right? True, new shops are opening up, but the rate at which new shops are opening is lower that the rate shops are closing or going out of business. In addition to this you (as a shop owner/manager) have to ask yourself this; will I have a pool of qualified candidates to fill positions as my company grows? If you're selecting anything other than the Big 5 (which are economically viable at this point) you're putting your company's future growth potential at risk. There's also something that people rarely consider - TCO (Total Cost of Ownership). Sure MC is a large outlay at first (though not as high as some in the same class - Mid-Range CAD/CAM) but, here's the biggie.... NO REQUIRED MAINTENANCE. You are NOT penalized for not moving to the latest version. Some packages not only require you to pay maintenance fees, but in addition they require you to update with every release and that price is not included with the maintenance you pay. Tell your boss he needs to consider ALL things not just initial cost.

 

HTH

[jeff]

Thanks James,

Good answer.

I personally would love to have Mill level 3,I was just looking for some more opinions out there.

[NYMike]

Jeff,

Explain to your boss that your shop is now up and running using MasterCam. You are proficient in programming with MasterCam and you are going to become faster and more productive the moment you upgrade to level 3. This should far outweigh the small initial savings you will get from a different CAM program. Good Luck.

Mike

[McRae]

Here is the way your boss should look at it. Mill 2 to Mill 3 is an incremental upgrade in the order of the cost of this other cam package. If there were orders of magnitude diference (ie a leap of $10000) then yes it would make Cents!!(SIC)

 

To properly justify this upgrade, look at the amount of work that is multi surface and then see how much programming is involved and have the programming subcontracted for these rare occasions.

 

Mastercam is a decent mid level package to cover 80 percent of the market out there. Be a little careful of using all of James' arguements as the MC sales guy will then have nothing left to talk about...

 

Success is built on the foundation of knowledge and you are already half way there.

[L Hanft]

I did a web search and found them in Clearwater Florida. I'm guessing it's like a lot of things, shiney new box, inviting ads and hype.... and then you open the box and find the truth........ doesn't do what it claims... they way it claims. Maybe not an outright lie....but it feels like it just the same!

[Guest CNC Apps Guy 1]

quote:

---

Be a little careful of using all of James' arguements as the MC sales guy will then have nothing left to talk about...

---

Yes, I agree. Save some for the sales guy. If he does not bring up the points at the time when he meets him, then you bring them up. And when your boss upgrades, make the sales guy take you to lunch.

[Kerry]

personally..i have been using mastercam off and on since version 3..

i'm no expert..as i said off and on..but i have allways sold my bosses on mc..it's simple..the best thing mastercam has to offer is much more than the package itself..but rather it's a growing company..since version 3 when i started..and i've used versions 3 3.3 4 4.1 4.2

6 6.1 6.2 7.0 7.2 8.0 8.1 9 and 9 sp1

 

and the company is always growing and expanding..always improving..and the companys who stay with master cam can only benifit from this..not to menion it's relativaly cheep in comparison to packages that do what it does

but are one level up..

i think mastercam is the right place to be if you want your money to grow and be a good investment..not to mention the great suport they have..and a prooven track record that see no slowing in the coming years towards it's package and it's costomers..

 

this is the real reason one gets on board with mastercam..

 

thanks for my 2 cents

[Thad]

James,

 

Who are the "Big 5?"

 

Thad

[Jack Mitchell]

Jeff,

 

Although we have debated this quite often on the forum; I believe the largest benefit with using Mastercam is that this program is the industry standard when it comes down to users in the real situation of daily machining.

 

Isn't the "Big 5" the common term used for the Mazda rotary engine? just a hunch.

 

Regards, Jack

[gcode]

One of Mastercam's best selling points is its

universal popularity.

More community colleges and trade schools teach it and the pool of talented Mastercam programers

is larger that for any other software package.

 

Saving money on some no-name CAM package isn't much good if you can't hire people to run it.

 

If your boss is set on trying this new CAM package, get a 30 day evaluation license.

If the software is as good as they say it is,

the dealer will not hesitate to let you play with it for a month (for free). If he won't, you gotta ask why.

 

Any CAM package worth a hoot will give you a 30 day trial. Some charge a $100 for the dongle,

but if they want the $$$$ up front with money back guarantees and blaa blaa blaa, run like hell.

 

If they insist on getting your money first, its cause they know you won't give it to them later.

[Guest CNC Apps Guy 1]

I meant to say the Big 4 , oops. The Big 4 are MC, UG, Pro/E and CATIA, and Mastercam being the only mid-range product in that group.

 

Surfcam's not really viable at this point, they are giving software afterall. You know it's got to be pretty bad when you've got to give you stuff away to get it out there. They got rid of most of their VAR network too. Very bad times for them. They are #2 in Educational though but it may be too little too late. I can't tell you the last time I saw an ad for somebody asking for a Surfcam Programmer. It's been years!

 

Gibbs will always have users, kind of how Apple is still hanging on, they will too, though eventually people come to realize that PC's are REAL computers and Apples are, well, Apples, they have their place, but not in the real business world outside of the graphics and music industry.

 

OpenCNC, I just don't think there is anymore room in the indutry to be economically viable in the long term.

 

JM2C

[Mattingly]

Well I downloaded the demo of the mill version and the apperance alone leaves something to be desired I think I will just stick with my Mastercam. From what I checked out so far there is no user freindly options to change to suit each personal preference but you get what you pay for....