Case Study: Bucyrus International reduces setups and eliminates operations on huge parts with 3D Systems (GibbsCAM)

GibbsCAM Eliminates Operations on Big Parts

Bucyrus International, a Milwaukee-based maker of giant earth‑moving shovels and mining equipment, faced extreme machining challenges: many components are massive (truck frames weighing ~200,000 lb, booms nearly 70 ft long) so setups, flips and material handling—not part geometry—drive long changeovers, downtime and difficulty estimating machine time and costs.

By adopting GibbsCAM (importing CAD, using right‑angle head support, cut‑part rendering and a custom Reporter output), Bucyrus cut the number of operations (e.g., truck frames from five to three), saving nearly 12 hours of machine idle time per frame and similar savings on booms, reduced risk of damaging costly parts through simulation, and automated accurate setup, tooling and process reports to improve lead‑time and cost estimates.

Bucyrus International

Jim Koehler

Machine Shop Programming Supervisor