Tebis Digital Twin and Virtual Machining Technology

Tebis Digital Twin and Virtual Machining Technology

For over 40 years, Tebis CAD/CAM and MES has offered advanced solutions for model, pattern, die, and mould making, as well as mechanical component manufacturing. Tebis also helps customers optimise CNC machining processes and automate CAM work with Intelligent Manufacturing technologies.

Tebis CAD/CAM software also offers greater safety with the Virtual Machine technology to reduce the collisions risks. Paul Scally, Site Manager from Tebis explains: “Digital twin is not just about your machines, it is about the entire environment. In Tebis, we build your working practices directly into the system using our libraries. These include your cutting tools, speeds, feeds, ramping feed rates, plunging feed rates, and stepover feed rates. It can also include your clamping devices, the machines you use, and even your specific processes for machining certain types of jobs. All of this is built into libraries to create a complete manufacturing digital twin environment.”

The Tebis software is machine orientated programming, and the virtual machine plays a critical role in this process. Paul also explains why this is so important: “The last thing we want is to program a job only to discover later that the machine’s kinematics can’t support the operation. This often leads to a situation where we have to go all the way back to the CAM software and rework the process. With our Virtual Machine, kinematics are built into the machine.  So from the very beginning youselect the machine to be used, which includes all rotational and even linear limits. During programming, Tebis provides real time feedback, ensuring that the desired operations are achievable within those constraints. This eliminates the rework loops and gives users confidence that the program they create will run correctly on the actual machine right from the start.”

The Tebis Virtual Machine is all about understanding machine kinematics from the very start of programming. This includes not only the kinematics for the program itself but also machine macros such as tool changes, tool measurement or machine head changes.

Tebis’ solution is fully scalable. When you purchase a postprocessor, you also receive a virtual machine as part of the package. As Paul explains, Tebis offers one of the largest CAM libraries in the industry, with over 9,000 different machines.

You can start with a catalogue machine and scale up to a fully verified machine. The Tebis team performs precise measurements on the actual machine and integrates all the necessary macros into the virtual machine, such as the tool changes, machine head changes, or any specific customer macros. By incorporating these details, we can achieve highly accurate machining simulations, and highly accurate machining times.

It is also very important to understand how we move around the job to avoid collisions between programs and reduce collision risks. Paul says:
“The software offers true simulation, not just animation. The kinematics are built in, so we know we are getting accurate feedback from the machine. Most other software providers can only use virtual machine technology for verification. Tebis software uses Virtual technology at three stages of the process: planning, programming and verification.”

The first stage is the planning stage, where we set up the job on the machine. At the first stage of the planning process, Tebis Virtual Machine technology provides tools to ensure that a component which is planned to be machined will fit on the designated machine tool. This can be checked along with the optimum setup position, tool tilt directions and cutting tool lengths required.

The second stage is for programming, Tebis uses Virtual Machines for toolpath calculation and collision avoidance, taking into account  cutting tools, tool holders and the machine heads. Machine tool rotational axis limits are also included in the toolpath calculation. It is possible to see when programming if a toolpath angle can be achieved on the machine. Tebis will not allow creation of a toolpath which is not achievable in reality. Also, special parameters for the Virtual Machine can be defined during the programming stage to account for certain applications, such as: activating of particular parameters which you may not always want to be active. With Tebis, what you see is what you get.

At the last stage of toolpath verification, Tebis supports automated toolpath checking. This reduces risks of any collisions, not only against cutting tools, tool holders, machine heads and components, but also the whole machine tools including the shields, barriers, fixtures, clamping devices and any other components setup on the machine at the same time. If there is a problem, it is easy to modify and recheck everything, all within Tebis.

Paul concludes that at Tebis, we want our customers to feel confident when working with our software. When programs are transferred to the machine, we are committed to reducing collision risks, helping ensure safer, smoother, and more reliable production.

This focus reflects Tebis’ dedication to supporting manufacturers with solutions that combine trust, precision, and efficiency.