Post Processors: More than just converting toolpaths into coordinates

Over the past few decades, the manufacturing and production landscape has changed and expanded significantly. Today's workpieces and components are more complex and challenging than ever before. The secure conversion of manufacturing data from the CAM system into machine language and its validation to avoid errors, makes a Post Processor a crucial connector with a lot of potential.

A Post Processor is able to offer much more than just translating graphical toolpaths into coordinates, motion and control commands for a machine tool.

Its potential is multifaceted and above, it contributes to the automation and optimization of manufacturing in several ways.

• Preparing complex information: PPs can prepare and provide complex information that are required for the manufacturing process. For example, tool and process data can be automatically extracted via integrated functionalities and inserted into configurable lists or files.
   
• Standardization: Post Processors enable consistent programming by ensuring that the individual steps of the manufacturing process are repeatable. This minimizes for example programming errors and increases the production quality.
   
• Error reduction: In addition, a Post Processor reduces the risk of errors that can occur during manual programming on the machine. Furthermore, a PP in combination with a machine simulation can detect and eliminate and avoid errors and collisions in advance, before the real production.

Moreover, the PP makes it possible to bind know-how and preserve it for future specialists, since, for example, customer-specific and process-relevant structures of the NC code can be incorporated into it and further developed. Training the next generation of CAM programmers is easier and faster, since the PP carries this knowledge independently of the individual. 

Through continuous maintenance, a PP is a "living" construct that is constantly evolving. Not only through the enrichment of knowledge (e.g.: behavior in the event of tool breakage), but also through the development of the necessary programming language and, above all, through the adaptation to the needs of the users.

Deep integration within NX allows not only sequential translation of data into machine code, but intelligent retrieval of required information directly from operations or from the tool database as needed.
 

In order to exploit the full potential, a customized Post Processor is needed to perfectly match the machines and manufacturing processes. The CAM system and its capabilities and modules also play a key role and it is essential that these are included in the development of the Post Processor. 

JANUS Engineering specializes in the development of Post Processors and Machine Simulations for Siemens NX. For NX, we offer a solution that optimally maps the manufacturing process and can safely manage manufacturing data. With a customized Post Processor, the necessary NC code for the machine is provided. In addition, we create a highly accurate machine simulation based on the NC code to be verified and the physical machine tool model. In this way, we can ensure that the manufacturing processes are aligned and that the full potential of the machine tools can be exploited.