Alphacam’s Cabinet Vision manufacturing software has enabled luxury yacht builder Sunseeker International to reduce the time needed to produce timber components by 70%.
The software is used throughout Sunseeker’s component manufacturing process and allows four programmers to use 3,000 machining programs to create bulkheads, stowage units, galleys, bunks and other internal timber elements of its yachts.
This includes creating and visualising families of internal components for assembled units, such as drawers and shelves, with the dimensions automatically calculated by the software once the external size and shape have been defined.
Sunseeker said that the manufacturing efficiencies had been evidenced in the production of kits of bulkhead panels, which used to be made by bonding two sheets of 12mm ply togeher.
It said that traditional methods took a team of specialists around a week to mark, profile and rebate, but a larger yacht can now be done by one operator in a single shift.
“Machining times were significantly shorter than with the current 25mm-thick panels, but this is more than made up for at the assembly stage – along with the significant additional cost savings on the adhesives we use,” said Sunseeker CNC specialist Bill Taylor.
Mr Taylor added that the company could see its way to investing in further equipment supporting Cabinet Vision in the next two years depending on business, with its latest investment in Bulleri CNC machinery solely running Cabinet Vision work.
