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Another Success Story

Stryker Reduces Errors with Predator Desktop

A Nice, Tidy Operation – Predator Software case study

Predator SoftwareNowadays, joint replacements are expected to meet greater demands and be in service longer than ever before. This means ever-increasing demand on design and production, ensuring maximum joint mobility; whilst minimizing wear, through the use of materials such as ceramics, titanium, and polyethylene.

Also, to meet the ever-widening range of issues, preferences, and patient demands, surgeons must have an equally wide range of choices and options so that the right joint is readily available whatever size the patient.

All this puts pressure on companies like Stryker Corporation, which specializes in manufacturing medical equipment. It has to deal with numerous design variations and batch changeovers daily, whilst maintaining traceability and effective production within the bounds of strict regulation.

Not easy by anyone’s standards; there are many opportunities for operator error, especially when changing one batch of components for another – which may look exactly the same, but embrace dimensional changes too small for most to see. Such errors prompted senior information technology analyst Walter Switzer of Stryker’s facility in Cork to seek a solution.

He found it in a bespoke DNC installation developed in conjunction with Predator Software Europe. The first two parts of the proposed three-part installation have been a huge success: the possibility of downloading the wrong file has been obliterated, and productivity significantly improved. In fact, the system now manages everything associated with making products on the machines and is currently being implemented across the American plants as a result. Read more below.

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Virtual Machine

Virtual Machine — Machine Simulation & Verification

Predator SoftwareProduct Description

Predator Virtual CNC and Virtual Machine integrates CNC verification and machine simulation within a single Windows-based product. Predator Virtual Machine is designed to accurately simulate the CNC, the machine and the machining process.

How it Works

Predator Virtual Machine works just like a machine tool. It requires CNC programs, offsets, stock material, tooling, and fixturing details. A 3D virtual machining environment is displayed to the user with VCR buttons to control the simulation. Unlike a machine tool, Predator Virtual Machine will safely detect machine crashes, broken tooling, CNC programming errors, and numerous other problems.

Initial setup requires the user to design a machine with any major CAD/CAM system. By leveraging the strengths of today’s solid modelers, machine design is faster and easier then ever before. The machine’s base and moving parts are imported into Predator Virtual Machine and the kinematics are defined. A library of machine types such as VMCs and HMCs simplify the kinematic definitions. CNC specifics are configured down to the G-code & M-code level. A library of 150 CNC controls that can be edited by the user, dramatically simplify initial configuration.

Read more below.

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Predator Software Releases DNC v3.2

Update Provides Increased Reliability and Integration

PORTLAND, OR – August 20, 2002 – Predator Software Inc., a leading provider of shop floor communication and automation software, today announced the release of Predator DNC (direct/distributed numeric control) version 3.2, the latest update to the company’s shop floor networking and communication application, which enables personnel to electronically automate the sharing of CNC program files between PCs and CNCs.

Predator SoftwarePredator DNC v3.2 provides nearly 40 enhancements, including new features to improve the user experience, as well as numerous performance-based upgrades to existing features. Recognized for its object-oriented flexibility, version 3.2 has added, among other key features, multiple file selection, wildcard directory searching, and improved Object functionality and reliability. More than a dozen new Objects have also been added, including integration Objects for Predator MDC and Predator Travelers, Regular Expression Objects, and CNC-specific protocols.

“Predator DNC v3.2 continues our emphasis on improving product quality while expanding the power of our application”, said Jim Abbassian, Predator Software President. “We received a tremendous amount of customer feedback, which drove many of the improvements in this latest release. The result is an excellent product update with an exceptional value-to-performance ratio.”

One of the biggest changes is a new installation process based on Microsoft’s Install Services. This technology was introduced in Windows 2000 and is supported natively. If the user is running Windows 95, 98 or NT v4.0 and Microsoft’s Install Services have never been installed, the new install procedure will do it automatically.

Read more below.

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New Predator Software Releases and Product Updates

Predator SoftwareShop Floor Automations announces Predator Software Updates for:

-DNC Version 3.2.052

-CNC Editor 5.2.9

-Virtual CNC 4.12

For more information about our Predator Software related services, read below:

Founded back in 1998, Shop Floor Automations, Inc. (SFA) started as a small company focused on distributing the Predator Software product line to the San Diego and Los Angeles markets of California.  Within 6 months, the company expanded to cover the entire West Coast as a reseller with the goal to be the #1 reseller in a year.

The goal was met in 1999 when SFA was awarded the status of largest distributor of Predator Software in North America. SFA has been ranked #1 in Predator Software Sales, Service and Support for some decades now.

Read more below.

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PDA Connect for Palm Pilots

PDA Connect for Palm Pilots

Shop Floor Automations (SFA), one of the largest independent CNC Automation Suppliers for the CNC Machine Tool Industry has released a new software product to run on portable PDA Units.

PDA Connect for Palm Pilots is an application that allows you to transfer files back and forth between most CNCs. Using standard XON/XOFF communication protocol, this simple to use interface allows you to backup or quickly load G-code programs. An unlimited number of machine templates can be used to store baud rates, data bits, stop bits and parity for different CNC controls. Edit programs within the unit for a quick change to a feed rate or any other G-code. PDA Connect also allows any file from your desktop computer to your PDA to be transferred.

The transfer is binary, so an exact copy of the original file is stored on your handheld. Other uses for the software include backup of parameters, uploading files to CNC machines, collecting data from probes, or transferring files between remote computers!

Unlike other software, there is no 4Kb limit on the file size, so you can copy large files to your handheld. Files remain in their native format after copying, so no special synchronization software is needed. The benefit to the software is ease of use, while using small portable PDA devices. The software is compatible with many units including PALM IIIe, m130, TX, T3 and more.

For more information, contact our sales department.

Shop Floor Automations, Inc. has moved!

A shot of Downtown San Diego from outside the city.Shop Floor Automations Moved Locations

As of May of 2002, SFA has moved and we are located at our new “home” in La Mesa, CA in San Diego County.

Our New Contact Information:
5360 Jackson Drive, Suite #202
La Mesa, California 91942
Toll Free (877) 611-5825
Telephone (619) 461-4000
Fax Line (619) 461-5918

More about the solutions that we continue to offer:

Shop Floor Automations (SFA) provides the leading software brands in the manufacturing industry to integrate & support the best solutions for our customers with our years of applicable experience. The developers of the software SFA carries understand your shop floor needs & with our integration services, we can make your company more efficient using machine monitoring, job scheduling, DNC communication, document control, revision control, CNC editing, & more.

SFA is committed to addressing manufacturing automation needs of customers with individualized solutions. By offering an extensive collection of software & hardware products, we scale automation solutions to customers of any size & variety of equipment.

Do you have a small shop? A large shop? Regardless of your number of machines, or types of controls, SFA has you covered with a complete hardware connectivity suite. Don’t shop around & waste time trying to find the lowest prices – using our years of experience & full support (onsite & digital) will pay for itself with working solutions.

We make our own cables & regularly test hundreds of models of controls with our equipment to confirm what works with wired, wireless, USB, & floppy disk drives for CNCs to eliminate downtime.

Call (877) 611-5825 for more information!