Recognised as the main award ceremony for the metal cutting/manufacturing sector in the UK, OPEN MIND beat off tough competition from all its major competitors in the industry. The prize was collected by OPEN MIND UK's Managing Director, Mr Adrian Smith in front of a crowd in excess of 600 engineers. With all cars on the F1 grid containing parts machined with hyperMILL®, the award was fittingly presented by Amanda Stretton, TV personality and an FIA GT Championship and Le Mans racing driver.
As part of OPEN MIND's award entry, the company had to present the functions and benefits of hyperMILL® along with industrial examples where the system has benefitted endusers. To this end, OPEN MIND presented examples where it categorically beat its competitors in extensive trials with a number of leading F1 teams as well as with Ilmor, the renowned F1 engine manufacturer. The entry highlighted how hyperMILL® has benefitted endusers with cycle time reductions in excess of 50% and setup time reductions over 40% when measured against competitors. Added to this were industrial examples of improved surface finishes, market leading collision avoidance, optimised tool paths and improved tool life that all contribute to reducing manufacturing costs.
However, the OPEN MIND entry not only highlighted why it has become the industry standard for the motorsport industry, but also why it is rapidly becoming the chosen package for the aerospace industry. Industrial examples for the aerospace industry highlighted how the feature recognition function has cut programming times by 40% and overall production times by 50% at leading aerospace subcontractor Long & Marshall. Additional demonstrations highlighted where hyperMILL® has benefitted the aerospace industry with examples from Flexible Machining Systems Ltd, Atlantic Precision and Midland Aerospace. On winning the award, OPEN MIND UK's Adrian Smith commented: "The award is not only recognition for the exceptional capabilities and functionality of hyperMILL® Version 9 and the technical expertise of our German parent company, it is recognition of the extremely hard work the UK team has put into making OPEN MIND a major success story in the UK. In the last couple of years, the UK staff has worked tirelessly to deliver the benefits of the system to UK industry. This award is an industry wide recognition of our success."
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