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2. How would having on-site or eSupport Mastercam or CNC programming training help me?

Varco Consulting offers on-site or eSupport training working directly with your staff in an environment that is comfortable for everyone, and working with your own projects for training. A great way to facilitate training in Mastercam is to purchase a combination Streaming Teacher subscription and on-site or eSupport training through Varco Consulting. This allows your staff to train themselves using Streaming Teacher at their own pace and when it is convenient for them, within a schedule mutually agreed on. After several of the Streaming Teacher lessons are finished, Varco Consulting will work with your staff to review the lessons, answer questions, and ensure that the lessons have been retained.

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3. What does Mastercam or CNC Programming training cost?

• On-Site training cost is $100/hr., minimum 6 hours. Travel and per diem expenses may be applicable

• eSupport training cost is $100/hr., minimum 3 hours

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4. Why would I want to use a contract CNC programmer?

• Contract programming can be a very cost effective, see FAQ #9 “How do you define a "good" CNC programmer?”

• You have programming needs that exceed your current software or personnel capabilities

• Your programming needs are such that a full-time programmers is not cost effective

• An in-house programmer has left the company, is on vacation, sick, or for other reasons is not available

• Your current work load requires additional programming resources

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5. What does CNC contract programming cost?

Contract CNC programming cost varies depending on the project requirements, complexity, and timeline requirements. Because of these factors most projects are quoted. 

Using a cost per hour is not a realistic measure of value, as a good programmer at a higher hourly rate is a much better value than an average programmer at a lower hourly cost, especially if the programming does not work well or is inefficient. The ROI of using an experienced and skilled contract programmer that allows you to get the project up and running quicker, with less problems, and efficiently can be very significant.

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6. What are the advantages of Streaming Teacher online training?

• Your Place, Your Time, Your Pace

• No need to wait for delivery, this can be ordered instantly via streamingteacher.com

• Courseware is always up-to-date; material is updated for Patches, Service Packs, Etc.

• Updates are listed in the revision log, so you can see what has changed since your last login

• All material is compiled as a very clean, fast, streaming video format with voice-over

• You can pause, stop or rewind as necessary – switching between the courseware and Mastercam

• Courseware is designed for use with the full version of Mastercam or the demo version

• Sample Mastercam files that are used during the video segments are downloadable from the Streaming Teacher site

Include Varco Consulting training to supplement Streaming Teacher for even better value and results.

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7. I am considering buying a CAD/CAM system, can Varco Consulting help?

Varco Consulting has many years of experience working with Mastercam, as well as many other CAD/CAM systems. We will share our experiences and recommendations with you on request. We can meet with you and demo Mastercam, and provide pre-sale as well as post-sale support and training.

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8. I would like to work with Varco Consulting, however you are not located near me, can this work?

It is always desirable to actually meet and get familiar with each other, as well as allow Varco Consulting to look over your operation first hand. Depending on your location, Varco Consulting can travel to your facility and meet. Sometimes for various reasons this is not a viable option, then our eSupport can be used to work with each other remotely. Varco Consulting has successfully programmed many complex projects for clients that we have never met or seen the results of our work.

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9. How do you define a "good" CNC programmer?

• Has many years of practical shop floor and programming experience in a wide variety of industries, materials, and parts with thousands of CNC programs having been created

• Works well with people and has good communication skills

• Thinks the project through from start to finish so as to plan it out in a manner that will work efficiently and minimize problems

• Considers the capabilities of the people in the shop

• Considers available tooling, fixturing, & machine capabilities

• Plans project to maximize the yield from the material when applicable

• Thoroughly documents the project, both for future programming review or changes, and for the shop staff

• Creates programs that consider the tolerances that must be held, and where possible through planning & programming minimizes the opportunity for the shop staff to have problems with holding the tolerances

• Creates and documents programs that require no, or a minimum, of rework to get into production once they are sent to the shop, so there is a minimum of lost production time once the project is in the shop

• Is well organized in their approach to the project planning, programming, and file management. All too often machinists work into programming positions without any training in organization skills or programming best practices

To summarize, a “good” programmer is a person that gives you the most value for your dollar, and therefore is the most cost effective even if they are at a higher hourly cost than other programmers

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12. I have an emergency project, can I get help right now?

Yes, in most cases we can help. The exception being if we are already addressing equally severe emergencies for other clients that would prevent us from giving yours the attention it needs.  Many of our repeat clients have come to us initially because they had an emergency situation to deal with and we were able to help them out. Depending on the severity of the emergency we may be able to work it into our normal work schedule. Otherwise if it is an afterhours situation there may be additional costs. If you are a new client we require credit card, wire transfer, or PayPal prepayment for a portion of the time we believe will be needed.

Shutdown situations always take precedence over any other projects.