The OP @Tommy Thompson last visited this topic on Tuesday...

The only real drawback to utilizing the multi-face approach is that you'll have more tool changes. So 4 tool changes over 4 parts as opposed to amortizing 1 tool change for 4 (or however many) parts. My personal primary preference is flexibility. There is more to "cycle time" considerations than from program start to program finish. Like if the machine is running 24-7, NEVER idle, then yeah, you want that cycle time to be as short as possible. If your fully loaded machine runs for 2 shifts then sits idle for one shift, then really you gain nothing by shaving every millisecond off the cycle time because that time savings was killed by the idle 3rd shift. "There's no perfect solutions, only compromises." Thomas Sowell

What the pre-position does for you is create a safe and known transition from path to path. If you want sexy, YouTube worthy machine porn, there's a path in Mastercam (5-Axis Linking) or CAMplete's Auto-Link function (it requires an NC Format that supportsthe function. It has to be turned on also... by default it's off. If you want to know how to turn it on, let me know.

Even though we use CAMplete, maximizing the use of the available options on the machine took a little work. Currently I'm working on utilizing the tolerance control feature (G10.8). That's gonna take a bit. If there's anything you need for the Matsuura just ask.

Glad to help wherever I can. It's a lot to take in, but getting a dialed in post helps. I was having a discussion with someone last week and they contended that knowledge of "g-code" isn't useful anymore because of CAD/CAM. I only partially agree with that statement. Does someone need to know how to write a program from scratch? Meh... not really. What someone that works with or writes programs MUST know is Program formatting. When to turn things on and when to turn them off. When to use this function, and when to use that function. While a dialed post can solve some of those issues, when a company gets a new machine or the machine has options that are unfamiliar, being able to troubleshoot code formatting is a critical skill. At then end of the conversation I thingbwe agreed on most points.

So on the MX (or any multi-pallet Matsuura) in the pallet manager you can assign up to 4 programs to the pallet. It can be 4 or the same programs or 4 different programs. Doesn't matter. When talking pallet manager with customers I always go over a number of scenarios. Aluminum and easy to machine/non tool-eating materials tool path transform with multiple parts in the same program is typically fine. More difficult materials or materials that generally wear tools out or break tools, I reccommend separate programs that way when using tool life management you don't have to kill the whole pallet to flag the tool, you can just flag the face. Then the face is flagged and will continue to the next face and pick up the backup tool.

G68.2 in a nutshell allows the part's coordinate system to follow the part around regardless of the tilt or rotational axes orientation. So X0, Y0, Z0 is X0, Y0, Z0 always no matter what. That's the basic explanation. There's a little more to it under the hood but that's basically what's going on. There's no need to even consider center of rotation, and it's better if you don't program to it. Writing the errors is just a matter of how you want to do it; by G10 or by variable number/variable name. By variable Number; https://www.dropbox.com/s/5f25nw9rg0nfrbu/WSEC Variable Table - FANUC 30i.pdf?dl=0 By G10 G90G10L23P = P1 – 7=P7 (x, y, z, a, b, c, and possibly a Tilt and a Rotary Axis)

Lots to unpack there so without further adieu... 1) FANUC Program Transfer Tool (available https://www.fanucamerica.com/products/cnc/cnc-software/programming-simulation-software/program-transfer-tool for under $30 USD) . I use it and reccommend it HIGHLY. CF Cards MUST be 1GB or under for 30i/31i/0i-F series controls. I keep a 128MB (yes you read that right) card for older era machines. I get mine from Amazon. I like these for 1GB's https://www.amazon.com/1GB-Compact-Flash-100X-INDUSTRIAL-Pio/dp/B000ZNWOSS/ref=sr_1_2?crid=I99RBMCIPDWH&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.vy01M8EQ4MyyBDSDjeq_NuppS6M0tWgWrlcoasmKUzHjiYMoBe4U0bq62scns-U3Z0sxEMsM4q6X_kTLHXLVeZIRbO48o0Ipi--Hbq_FKm_aXz3hHfnB-91bIoKmwAUB53WTZHmRWTDJUWArvdnEuFhSkXyZiuemWcvM7BHOfMdrt8mszRDnM4pnfYkaWH1zERpJt7BhJnTVxO8zVuM1eqnIyDCY6XJQqDZxH8O15pWTx-OlI9AUfeXcdAxgw5UvrmuowILrWHeEtGMuZOhPyXp7I7NocgDEelaG2jZaAnk.d2rRem4np6HQzDANiXqa6evpgkauOin78IjLz0UNivw&dib_tag=se&keywords=1GB+CF+Cards&qid=1713845397&refinements=p_n_feature_five_browse-bin%3A673261011&rnid=673240011&s=pc&sprefix=1gb+cf+cards%2Caps%2C126&sr=1-2 It's only frustrating if the company you bought your machine from is not knowledgable. Support matters. Especially today. 2) This is NOT a FANUC issue. This is 100% on the machine tool builder. We spec our machines with 8MB of CNC Memory and 1GB of Data Server Memory. The latest machines have SSD Drives with TB's of storage and they are FANUC so... the problem isn;t with FANUC it's with your builder improperly specing a machine. Assign blame wher it belongs. 3) See #1 4) I barely graduated high school... and by barely, I mean if it weren't for woodshop and PE I woudln;t even have had a 2.0 GPA... and I have no trouble connecting machines to networks if they are equipped with either an Embedded Ethernet port or a Data Server. Been doing it since the 90's. You need better machine tool support. 5)I've not been successful partitioning CF Cards lately. Like for the last 10 years lately. Just get a 1GB CF card or smaller with a PCMCIA adapter and it'll work. Embedded Ethernet is a simple setup. EIther use DHCP or set a static IP address, set the router and DNS IP Addresses, plug it in and it works. Just to prove a point to a customer, I went out to Home Depot, bought a Wireless Extender with an ethernet port, set it up, set the control for DHCP, set the router and DNS, restarted the adapter and I was able to ping the CNC form anywher ein the shop. Once I was connected to their network, I coudl upload and download programs at will. 6) You just need better machine tool support 7) I give away my knowledge for free. It's worth plenty, but so many gave to me freely, I'll give freely until I get burned. 8 ) I will say it's easy, because it is. I'm NOTHING special. Believe me. I'm just an average at best guy. Your machine tool dealer has a high degree of incompetence, or they are withholding support from you. Either way, I'm sorry you are going through this trouble. You should not have to suffer because of your machine tool dealer is incompetent or your machine tool builder didn't adequately option their machine. I hope this helps. Put ALL your pat programs on the DATA_SV. Just use CNC Memory for custom G/M-Codes, Custom MACROs, etc...

This is one of the many areas I believe Matsuura is FAR superior to the toilet bowl lovers in machine design. Matsuura can get closer to the pallet center with the head/spindle. Doing this allows you to run shorter tool assemblies and it requires shorter work holding to get ot he part. All that to say a more rigid machining setup = the best metal removal scenario possible. In the MAM series they offer the MAM72-35V, MAM72-42V, MAM72-52V, MAM72-70V, and MAM72-100H. Then in the CUBLEX series there is a CUBLEX-35 and a CUBLEX-63. There was a CUBLEX-42 but I believe they discontinued it. 350mm, 420mm, 520mm, 700mm, and 1000mm respectively. The number after the dash is the CM value of MAX pallet Changing swing diameter essentially.

Also, if you've got the inspection stuff squared away, it's easy peasy to generate reports, csv data, etc... If you can imagine it, you can format it, and generate reports.

Adding non manufacturing time adds TAKT time. Added TAKT time = higher cost. That said, WIP = Inventory. Inventory = Money. Money = Taxation Parts in inspection = WIP therefore there's a cost no matter where the part is within the factory. If you can integrate and automate processes you can bring down the labor component of part cost. "There are no perfect solutions, only compromises." Thomas Sowell

I hear that A LOT. They like Yamazen use their AE departments as a training ground for the sales department... and it shows. Few of their AE's here in the US are dedicated to that craft for any REAL span of time. That's just the reality. I do know of an AE at Mori that's been with them since the 90's and I'd expect his to be a good 5-Axis guy since he came form Makino but he doesn't go out in the field... so what good is all that experience if you as a customer don't have access to it.

It can be done effectively... it just has to be approached in the right manner. The #1 issue with inspecting a part on the machine that produced it isn't that the machine is checking itself, it is that the connection between the coordinate system that manufactured the part and the coordinate system that is inspecting the part isn't broken. You MUST break that connection in order to get an accurate measurement. On a 5-Axis machine with a FANUC control, that means having G68.2, G54.4, machine parameters set correctly, AND the probing software that supports probing with those functions active. Don;t have ALL those things squared away and there WILL be trouble in paradise.

Matsuura has been palletizing 5-Axis machines since 1992. They (as did the majority of 5-Axis builders) left that toilet bowl design the Germans seem hell bent on using in the dust LONG ago. It's not the best design for a table/table kinematic machine. Trunion is the best for table/table.

Support should be the #1 consideration when buying a 5-Axis machine. Much like a multi-tasking lathe support will make or break that machine. You could buy "the best" (whatever that is) machine but when the good for nothing AE shows up to train you, he (or she) has no clue about cutting parameters to utilize the machine to maximize it's capability, it's going to be on YOU to figure out. Oh sure, they'll tell you "... that's the CAM system's responsibility...", and it is, but only to a certain extent. When they cannot explain to you the role of point spacing, cut distance, and tolerance, and how it relates to machine performance, you ARE in for trouble.