Founded in 2018, Nerc Precision Engineering Ltd (NPE) was set-up by Konrad Nerc as an instrument to help the entrepreneur ‘follow his dreams’. Working a full-time job whilst setting up NPE, the Bristol-based business owner is now making those dreams a reality with the installation of a DMG MORI 3 and 5-axis machining centres and Leadwell 3 axis machining centres– all programmed with Fusion 360 CAM software from Autodesk.
Since its inception, the company located near Bristol airport has undertaken subcontracting work in the defence, offshore and power generation, general precision engineering, automotive and aerospace sectors. Bristol is one of the UK’s major aerospace manufacturing clusters with local aerospace businesses including Leonardo, Airbus, GKN, Boeing, Safran and many others, so it was a prudent move for the company to recently move into this once-again thriving local marketplace. Aerospace manufacturing is inherently challenging with components that often require complex 5-axis machining from materials that are expensive and difficult to machine.
Recalling the early days of NPE, Managing Director, Konrad Nerc reflects: “When I first started NPE, I researched many different CNC machines and CAM software to see which ones would best meet my needs. It was evident that Autodesk’s Fusion 360 was the most suitable system for our business. As the business evolved into complex 5-axis machining, many of my competitors were using the same high-end CAM system, so the logical choice was for me to do the same – after all, if it’s good enough for them, it should be great for me”. This diversion away from Fusion 360 resulted in multiple technical problems and lengthy implementation delays that meant the system ultimately failed to meet NPE’s needs. Konrad goes on to explain: “When you spend tens of thousands of pounds on a CAM system, you naturally expect it to deliver great results. We provide a top-quality service to our end customers, but the CAM system was causing us too much pain so we decided to look at alternatives. It was apparent that the 5-axis strategies and the Machining Extension within Fusion 360 was all I ever needed.”
The ISO: 9001: 2015 registered business fully embraced Autodesk Fusion 360 and the Machining Extension, and it hasn’t looked back since. Commenting on Fusion 360, Konrad says: “Our business has grown by 400% in just over a year and we can attribute a lot of this growth to Fusion 360. Fusion 360 is a CAM system that is ‘made for making parts’.”
To understand the impact that Fusion 360 has had on this company on the Gloucestershire and Somerset borders, it is worth understanding the type of work undertaken. Like many subcontractors, NPE produces anything from prototypes and small batches up to short production runs in the region of 5000 components – all with geometries and complexities varying greatly from one job to the next.
Getting the right (CAM) tools for the job
Fusion 360 is undoubtedly a leading CAM system for 3- and 5-axis machining, simultaneously it is also an industry-leading system for start-ups and small businesses looking to make their first steps into CAM – a system for all companies and applications.
As Konrad explains: “The previous system wasn’t a good fit for our business, but Fusion 360 is perfect. It has an extremely cost-effective price point making it a great choice for start-up businesses. In our case, we needed 5-axis programming tools, so we adopted the Machining Extension. I’m the first to admit that Fusion doesn’t offer every single option seen in some of the more expensive packages, but it does everything I need and I’m not paying extra money for features I don’t use. In my view, it is better than other so-called market-leading systems.”
The Shop Floor
Whilst batch runs can extend into the thousands, NPE is typically producing up to 10 different types of parts in a day – all with different batch sizes. This makes the programming speed of the CAM system critical for getting jobs through the shop as quickly as possible. Discussing this, Konrad says: “Producing lots of different parts, we needed a CAM system that fits with our business and can compress our programming times. We have default tool positions set up in each of our machining centres with some special tools in the remaining tool positions in the automatic tool carousels. Likewise, we have a corresponding tool library set up in Fusion 360 with default tool positions in each tool pot of the machines’ tooling carousels. Within the Fusion 360 tool library, we also have default speed and feed settings for each tool. When this is all set up, Fusion makes it as easy as selecting the appropriate face mill or end mill and hitting the ‘OK’ button.”
NPE now has three seats of Fusion 360 with two seats also incorporating the Machining Extension. Alluding to this, Konrad adds: “Each machinist programs and runs their jobs from start to finish, programming the jobs with Fusion 360 at the machine. This gives every machinist a completely rounded skill set and avoids the potential bottleneck of having just one programmer in the office – it also instils a sense of ownership and pride when a machinist follows the job from drawing to delivery.”
“When we first receive a drawing or model from a customer, we input that straight into Fusion 360 and the machinists program the parts and make any necessary amendments at the machine.”
Streamlining Production
With NPE programming approximately 10 different parts a day, the speed of programming is critical to throughput. As Konrad adds: “The programming time with Fusion 360 is 50 to 100% faster than with our previous system – this makes a huge impact on our throughput and subsequently our profitability. What Fusion 360 gives us is the least amount of clicks to get my spindles turning. This means we can make more parts every day.” Most manufacturers have focused on automation, and NPE is no exception: “Automation is so important and can make or break a business. We’ve built a reputation for delivering projects faster than our competitors and this is at least in part thanks to Fusion. We use some of the smart strategies, like Steep & Shallow and Feature Recognition to simplify programming. For example, Fusion 360 can recognise an M3 thread in the CAD and automatically assign a 2.5mm diameter drill for that feature. This saves us huge amounts of time and stress, and means we can shorten our production times.”
“Not only does Fusion 360 compress our programming times, but it also has industry-leading toolpath strategies. We recently won a major aerospace contract and whilst we weren’t the cheapest option for the customer, we can turn parts around faster than anyone else and to a higher quality – this was the defining difference in why we won the business. Fusion 360 was instrumental in this. The toolpath strategies are making a significant difference to our surface finishes and the blending of surfaces – this is having a major impact on the aesthetics and quality of our parts.”
Reflecting on the adoption of Fusion 360, Konrad says: “Fusion is ideal for all types of manufacturing business. Sure, you get CAD and CAM and the price is really appealing but there’s more to it than that. The time and effort needed to get it up and running was much lower too. Our previous system took weeks to learn and involved expensive training courses – during which time our machinists were busy and couldn’t work on customer projects. That’s tough for any business to handle, and is especially true for a startup. Fusion is different, we trained ourselves using YouTube videos, were machining by the end of day one, and delivering finished customer parts by the end of the first week.” When asked about the ongoing costs, Konrad explains: “Some people aren’t keen on software subscriptions, I don’t know why as they work perfectly for us. There’s no huge upfront payment, and I only pay for the products and tools that I need when I use them.”
Thinking about the future at NPE, we probe into Konrad’s plans. He smiles: “When I look back at the early days of NPE, I know I made some good and bad choices – swapping to Fusion 360 is definitely one of the better ones. Autodesk played a big part in getting to where we are now, but I’m even more excited about what’s coming in the months ahead.”
“I signed up to be part of the Fusion 360 preview team, meaning I get early access to future functionality. I’ve already started using the new 5-axis deburring toolpath and I love how it works. Even though it’s not been fully released yet, it’s allowing my team to improve the quality of the parts we make, making us more competitive. With so many powerful options coming, we are excited about the potential. Autodesk and Fusion 360 have empowered our business.”