What is CAD/CAM Software?Computer Aided Design. In reference to software, it is the means of designing and creating geometry and models that can be used in the process of product manufacturing. Computer Aided Manufacturing. In reference to software, it is the means of processing a designed part model, creating machine toolpath for its various components and creating an NC program that is then sent to a CNC Machine tool to be made.The purpose of CAD-CAM is to automate CNC programming and allow innovators, designers and cnc businesses to manufacture products, bringing them to market faster and more profitably than ever before. It is the concept of producing goods faster and for less.Manufacturers of The FutureIn 2013 and beyond, thousands of students in North America alone are currently planning to enter careers in Manufacturing. From Advanced Mechanical Design, Fabrication, Aerospace Engineering and Aircraft Manufacturing to Industrial Engineering, Automotive and CNC Machining, these students will be the future of Manufacturing moving forward. They will be the innovators, the creators and architects that will design and make all of the products we use on a daily basis. As design and manufacturing technology advances, so does the look and usability of the products we buy and use. Costs are driven down and the speed in which products are brought to market increases. This means that we can buy products from dishwashers to cell phones cheaper while enjoying a broader selection to choose from.While software providers are constantly moving forward in the development of CAD/CAM software, adding new automation and making it more intuitive than the last software revisions, you will agree that there needs to be a swiftly moving system of keeping these students on par with the cutting edge of CNC automation. Thus ensuring their survival once they land in shops and manufacturing businesses around the world.Here are some of the real-world challenges that educators and schools face when including manufacturing CAD/CAM technology in their curriculums.Focused Manufacturing CurriculumsA common challenge for CAD/CAM in Education has to do with the type of applications or even industries being taught along with the curriculum segments revolving around software as it relates to that specific industry or application. In 2008 a panel of manufacturing and business professionals were interviewed by O & P.com, an online resource for Orthotics and Prosthetics companies. The interviews focused on CAD/CAM software in education and the results were surprising. These business professionals really felt that there was a serious lack of professional training available in the area of CAD design and CAM machining technology.Some of them had even gone so far as to provide seminars on the subject at schools and universities in an effort to get educators more involved in the subject so that there would be some support for the industry moving forward. It makes sense. Even now in 2013 there is no CAD/CAM software product that caters to the design and manufacturing of prosthetics as an example. The closest form of CAD/CAM for a specific application would be special dental prosthetic products that cater to the dental industry. But what about the rest? Software is used for CNC automation in just about every available type of application today without schools having to find custom-specific application type systems.The solution has to be available where CAD/CAM providers work directly with the educator, teacher or school to develop curriculums that deal with specific applications in order to tune down the product and be more application focused. While many CAD/CAM providers will help, education still suffers because of budgets and the high price of implementing software for such cases.Educational Budget CutsMany states are currently looking at budget cuts for fiscal years 2014 and 2015 that will drop higher education budgets below 2008/2009 levels. The dollar amount spent per student in 2013 is down by more than half in over 50% of the US. In fact, 26 states will spend less per student in fiscal year 2013 than the year before and 35 are still spending at levels lower than before the recession, after adjusting for inflation. The truth is, we are going nowhere fast when it comes to financially investing in the manufacturers of our future. The solution is for CAD/CAM providers to change the way they think when it comes to supplying education with cutting edge cnc machining software products. We have to be smarter and make technology software implementation easier for schools at all levels than ever before. Many providers offer educational discounts, yet the costs are still well out of range. Not only this but what about the student that graduates and enters the workforce? If the student was trained on a $15,000-$20,000 CNC Programming system, how are they going to take a seat with them to their new employer? CNC Software for milling, turning, routing, water jet, plasma or laser can cost a substantial amount of money. There must be a solution to make NC programming technology more accessible to graduating students.Keeping Curriculums FreshAnother challenge for educators focuses on existing curriculums having to be continuously updated and modified in order to keep them current with manufacturing technology as it is developed moving forward. Again, CAD/CAM providers must have programs in place which not only address educational implementation, but that allow educators to keep them updated on the fly. Ultimately, teachers need an abundant volume of resources available to them, preferably online and accessible by mobile devices. This includes tiered tutorials, corresponding and example CAD Part Files, videos, knowledge based support, help files, Machine Post Processors and all other product support and training resource that empowers the teacher. Educator support should also be a phone call away. Educators that have existing curriculums should be able to easily adapt what they have to include CAD/CAM. This way implementation is simple and saves a lot of time.The SolutionGoing into 2014 the manufacturing industry is experiencing more growth. This means that the demand for CAD-CAM software will be higher. As will the need for CNC programmers that understand and know how to machine with software. This is exactly why a “Manufacturers of The Future” program is needed for education. A program that supports schools, teachers and ultimately the students. Thus, ensuring that these students will have the software they were educated on before they begin their new journey into the manufacturing workforce.Schools & TeachersA”Manufacturers of The Future” program is a solution for schools and teachers at all levels that prepares students for CNC manufacturing because it addresses the challenges that today’s schools and educators face when it comes to implementation, curriculums and plain old affordability when they are already working with tight budgets. A successful program for supporting education would include the following:
Makes individual and multi-station lab licenses very affordable
Access to 2, 3, 4 and 5 axis cad-cam cnc software
Provides no-cost Technical Support and Training Solutions to teachers
Regularly updates training material to add resources
Provides cnc machine post processors
Keeps educators informed and successful
From access to online knowledge based cad-cam support portals to multi-level software tutorials, training video products and specialized one-on-one training, educators need this level of support.StudentsWith a Manufacturers of The Future “Work Ready” campaign, students receive the support they need in low cost professional cad-cam software versions so that they are ready and are more valuable as they start working in manufacturing.
“Work Ready” allows graduating students their software at reduced costs
Available multimedia training solutions that they can take with them
Continued Education & Advanced Online Operator Certification
These three items are critical for success. Students can achieve more in their professions with them. As a student or teacher there are solutions that exist to help teach and educate manufacturing students. A Manufacturers of The Future and a Work Ready type program created and provided by CAD-CAM vendors that get together to provide a dynamic multi-level support system that accommodates all levels of CAD/CAM products will be phenamenal. This would be the most productive and helpful method possible. Who will step up and answer the call? These are exciting times for education and the future of manufacturing.
The Future of Manufacturing Education
Starting An Internet Marketing Business Online
Are you looking to start an internet marketing business online? If so, you need to know exactly what you’re getting yourself into. Don’t think you can just enter into this industry and expect to start making millions of dollars within the next 6 months. I get requests from people all the time telling me that they want to be making $5,000 per month within 3 months. And these are people who have never sold a thing online!One thing that you need to know is that when starting an internet marketing business online, you “kind of” have the world at your feet. There’s plenty of places to advertise, there’s plenty of ways to get free traffic to your site, there’s plenty of business owners looking to learn how to do effective marketing online, and etc. So you can be kind of spoiled once you get your hands on some training materials.But understand that you are operating in a HIGH competition arena. A smart thing that you could do is to offer internet marketing services to local small businesses in your area. Most offline small business owners don’t have a clue about how to market their business online. But in the online world, people have training thrown at them all the time.So I guess the best question to ask yourself is: “How am I different?” Right?? You don’t want to be a “me-too” person when marketing your products and services online. This applies if you choose to be a coach, consultant, or sell products such as books, CD’s, DVD’s, or even magazines. So how are you different? How will you separate yourself from the pack and differentiate yourself from everyone else online who are making the same claims as you?It’s something you need to think about when launching your own internet marketing business online. Where most people get tripped up at is when, they read someone’s free eBook about internet marketing, and then go and buy a large resell rights package that is ALL ABOUT internet marketing.Each product in the package contains something about internet marketing. More often than not, the resell rights bundle may contain products about:Email marketing
Forum marketing
YouTube marketing
General internet marketing
Consumer buying behavior
Copywriting
Etc (the list goes on and on)
And most of these people spend YEARS trying to figure out a way to sell these products – if not sell them as a bundle. OR if not resell the same offer that they bought to receive these items. After years of failure, they usually leave feeling depressed, broke, and convinced that making money online is impossible… if not a scam. And this is just not true.All of these kinds of products are supposed to teach people about niche marketing. Especially a general product about internet marketing. The real pros who sell internet marketing products successfully sell them primarily for a good reason: THEY SELL THEM FOR VERY HIGH PRICES.They sell one course about internet marketing at $200. Then they backend sell you for another similar course at $500. Then they sell you another similar course with huge bonuses for $1000. Then they sell their 3-day seminar and invite you to attend… for the price of $2000. THEN they convince you to sign up for their monthly newsletter or membership website, and charge you $50/month to join.How rich do you think you would be if you were to successfully get people to buy your products at these price ranges?Meanwhile, you’re being convinced that selling $19 eBooks will save you from your day job. This is just not the case. To make $100,000 by selling $19 eBooks, you would have to sell 5000 eBooks per year. That comes out to 416 eBooks per month. Which means you would have to sell 104 eBooks per week. Which thus means you would have to sell 14 eBooks per day.How are you going to sell 13 eBooks per day and you’re struggling to make even a dime of profit selling a $5 eBook on eBay? You have to learn a lot about internet marketing if you want to make a lot of money in this business. ESPECIALLY if you’re selling information about “internet marketing”. If you’re not a guru and have been selling other niche products successfully online, don’t enter into this broad arena.The gurus who are selling “internet marketing” products successfully have a plan that have worked well for them over the years. EVEN IF they lose money on the first sale of getting that first customer, they know how to recoup their lost, and then still profit on the next sale that they make from that customer.They know their numbers. They know their sales conversion rate, their cost per lead, cost per sale, and their average long term value of a customer. Let me ask you a question:If you knew that for every 1 customer you acquired, that you were going to make an average of $5000 over the lifetime of that customer spending money with you… would you care if you lost $5 just to acquire them in the first place? Of course you wouldn’t care.But I’m sure you would care if you were spending $5 to acquire them, and then not selling to them again to recoup your profits. That would mean that for every customer you get, you would be losing $5 per sale… forever. You have to market to these customers over and over again to recoup a frontend loss. This is called “backend marketing”.If you want to get started online in the internet marketing business, you have to bring your A-game and have a mathematical plan of how you’re going to make money. There’s a lot to learn, but once you gain an understanding of how marketing online works (and how marketing in general works)… you’ll be well on your way to success in your business.If you’re going to buy a resell rights bundle package, at least READ the information in the products you acquired so that you can know how to sell them successfully. Don’t be a hopeless cause.
Improve Your Credit Score and Get a Better Homeowner Insurance Rate
Although these data will all be used, the most significant factor in determining someone’s homeowner insurance rate is not asked for in the application form. This is the homeowner’s credit score which the insurance company will get from the credit bureau, where everybody’s credit information is stored.Generally, individuals with a higher credit score have a higher probability of getting the lowest possible homeowner insurance rate. On the other hand, if your credit score is not that great, you will be classified as a high-risk client and you will probably be stuck with a higher rate which could mean a bigger insurance premium or smaller claims in case of damage or loss.Furthermore, if your credit score is really pathetic, most conventional home insurance companies will have no choice but to reject your application right away. You will still be able to find coverage though, because there are still a number of insurance companies that take the risk of insuring poor credit clients. You do have to prepare yourself for a much costlier homeowner insurance rate.If you wish to qualify for a better homeowner insurance rate, you must try to improve your credit score as early as possible. You can start right now by going to any of the three major credit reporting agencies – Equifax, Experian and Trans Union – and request for a copy of your most current credit report to find out what your present credit score is. Everyone is entitled to a free copy of this report once a year.In the next couple of months, make good on your credit card payments by being on time and if possible, paying more than the minimum required amount for each month. Doing this will make your credit score jump a few points, which could be enough to qualify you for a much better homeowner insurance rate.You must take note that this system of basing Homeowner Insurance rate on credit scores is done only in the United States. If you are planning to take out an insurance policy for a house outside the US, you might encounter different assessment methods so you have to do some research first to familiarize yourself with their system.In the United Kingdom for instance, they do not use credit score as part of the evaluation process. Instead, the primary factors in determining the homeowner insurance rate are merely the bits of information about the house and not the owner. This is because the UK government actually mandates that home insurance is a basic housing right and that every homeowner should have equal rights to insurance, regardless of their credit score or employment history.