Bundling PLM in machining centres

 Global player in metal cutting technology Makino Asia Pte Ltd is partnering with Siemens PLM Software by bundling PLM software with their advanced machining centres, providing customers in the ASEAN region with a complete solution.
 George Lim, Vice President Marketing, Makino Asia Pte Ltd Singapore and Rajiv Ghatikar, Vice President, Asia Pacific, Siemens PLM Software provided a better insight into the partnership and demonstrated how this collaboration could offer everything a customer need, in a one-on-one interview with International Metalworking News for Asia.
 According to Ghatikar, Makino Japan has been working together with Siemens PLM Software's Unigraphics Team, writing their application software on top of the CAD and jointly selling the software as part of the CAD/CAM solution. As the requirement is to promote and offer a 'One Stop Solution", it is a natural progression for Makino to find a partner who can fulfil this expectation and Siemens NX CAD/CAM is a natural fit.
 "We have actually been working with Makino as a formal partner several months ago. They have our solutions with their technology for years. And have been selling our software in conjunction with their sales because the value added is a good fit", said Ghatika.
 "Working with Siemens PLM Software will strengthen our visibility in the market and will allow Makino Asia to provide a more complete solution to our customer. This partnership will result to a better and stronger support system that will add value as to what we can offer to the market." Lim added.

 Complete PLM-machining solution
 Through close integration, excellent quality, a strong reputation and proper emphasis on the protection of a customer's investment, the partnership between Siemens PLM Software and Makino Asia offers some excellent value propositions, promising to provide turnkey solution from software tools to hardware.
 "In the manufacturing, the CAD/CAM is a very important part. And there are many ways of doing it. But the most important way is to have a seamless integration where you can see the idea, modelling, and up to how you want to do it. We are showing here a seamless integration without data loss from the idea of the mould making to the idea of mould machining," explained Lim.
 Siemens NX has a large market share of CAM customers and Makino has a strong market foothold in precision machining, particularly in the mould and die segment. This partnership will benefit both groups of customers as they can leverage this partnership to ensure that their investment is well protected and developed in the future.
 Lim added, "CAD is a very important part in the engineering and drafting. But when it comes to CAM, it's a different thing because you're really dealing with something that is actually moving. If you make a mistake on the CAD, you can erase it and redraw it. You can't make a mistake on a CAM. So if there's a huge accident, the damage will be too big. And if you have a mould & die setup in there, you can't do it. In the CAM program, the algorithm is very much on the interior knowledge. You have to do it and you have to understand it. And there are many definitions. You need to have a lot of experience in machining know-how. CAM makes things possible. You can do anything in a CAD but it doesn't mean you can machine it."

 Unique investment in ASEAN
 Makino has many technical centres across ASEAN and such an investment is unique in the machine tool industry.
 Ghatika said, "There are some unique advantages that our competitors may not necessarily carry on, which we have fully integrated in our solution with CAD. So we haWomens Bandeau