Smart Manufacturing

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 […]