Case Study: Sunnen Products Company achieves an 83% reduction in programming time with 3D Systems' GibbsCAM plug-in

Sunnen Products Company - Customer Case Study

Sunnen Products Company, a manufacturer of bore‑sizing and finishing equipment and tooling, faced a programming bottleneck when consolidating operations onto a Mazak Integrex multitask machine. Complex cylindrical tools with up to 29 helical oil grooves required extensive G‑ and M‑code entry; using conversational controls this could take as long as 1.5 hours per part and made engineering changes error‑prone and time consuming.

Sunnen implemented GibbsCAM and worked with Gibbs to develop a custom Integrex plug‑in that generates complete part programs from user‑entered variables (flutes, length, helix, depth, offsets, etc.). The automation cut programming time to about 15 minutes per part (an 83% reduction), eliminated a second machine setup, reduced cutting time and errors, and saved more than an hour per program across hundreds of programs—while Gibbs’ fast support enabled rapid refinements.

Sunnen Products Company

Mike Mullins

Abrasive Plated Tools department, Supervisor