PIC CAP: In-house manufacturing with PowerMILL has helped make Viking Yachts a world leader in semi-custom fibreglass yachts.

“When it comes to CAM for five-axis programming, Delcam’s PowerMILL is hands down the easiest and best I have ever used,”states Jason Taylor, five-axis CNC programmer at Viking Yachts. His company first added the Delcam software after it acquired an MR125 gantry milling system able to handle parts fifty feet long by twenty feet wide and ten feet high. This machine can mill patterns as large as a vessel’s bridge and helm, as well as Viking’s smaller hulls, in one piece.

The Viking Yacht Company was started by brothers Bob and Bill Healey in 1964 when they bought Peterson-Viking Builders, a small, struggling New Jersey builder of 37-foot, wooden sport-fishing boats. The renamed Viking Yachts has grown to become a world leader in semi-custom fibreglass yacht production, with over 4,000 luxury/performance sport-fishing and cruising yachts delivered to happy customers.

Viking prides itself on its in-house manufacturing capabilities, which have been an important part of its highly-regarded reputation. From the initial design to the finished product, the company is committed to producing ninety per cent of the boat in house. Except for components such as engines, transmissions, pumps, hoses, air conditioning units, electronics and entertainment systems, virtually everything else is produced in-house by the company’s talented workforce.

“I have been programming with PowerMILL for over five years now,” said Mr. Taylor. “Here at Viking Yachts, we use cutting-edge software for all our engineering needs. PowerMILL helps us stay on top of the competition.”

“When I first started using PowerMILL, we were on version 5,” he added. “Now, after at least eight major updates, we are running the 2011 version. With each update, Delcam and the team at our reseller, DM Solutions, make my job easier while saving our company time and money.”

“We machine all our parts with two five-axis routers,” he explained. “Those parts range in size from a few inches, all the way up to fifty feet in length. We also use some very unique tooling and materials. PowerMILL handles the big files without a hitch, and creating the custom tools is really easy. Even with parts that contain thousands of surfaces, creating boundaries, patterns, work-planes and toolpaths is fast and very simple. Most of our machined parts have very tight corners and difficult areas that the tools need to get into, so we rely heavily on PowerMILL’s collision avoidance and simulation tools prior to running the NC programs.”

“The best part of using Delcam software is the support,” added Mr. Taylor. “Getting help is quick and easy, unlike other suppliers I’ve used for programming software. DM Solutions provides everything from basic support to new programming strategies. Jeff Fischer and the rest of the support staff are always there to assist us in our time of need. DM Solutions and Delcam never leave us waiting for an answer, and that is very important to us because downtime can be very costly in our business.”

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