Eddie, thanks for taking the time. For someone who has never heard of it, how would you explain SolidCAM iMachining and why it matters?
iMachining is SolidCAM’s high-efficiency milling technology that turns an existing CNC machine into a much more productive asset, without touching the hardware. I like to describe it as smart high-speed machining: it automatically balances tool engagement, feed, and speed so you can cut much faster while keeping the process stable and safe. For most shops, that means quicker programming, far fewer broken tools, and a much higher chance of getting the first part right.
What kind of performance improvements do you actually see on the shop floor?
Eddie Pevzner: The first thing people notice is a big drop in cycle time on parts they already know well—often tens of percent, not just small, incremental gains. At the same time, tool life usually improves because cutting forces and chip thickness are controlled rather than spiking randomly. Put those together, and you effectively free machine capacity; many shops realize they can run more jobs on the same machines and even postpone buying another machine.
A lot of people hear about the Technology Wizard when they look at iMachining. How do you explain its role?
I call the Technology Wizard the brain of iMachining. Instead of manually tweaking feeds, speeds, depth of cut, and stepover, the Wizard looks at the material, the tool and holder, and the machine’s rigidity, then calculates optimized cutting conditions. This is especially powerful for less-experienced programmers because it removes much of the trial-and-error and gives them confidence to run aggressive but safe parameters. The Level Slider, on top of that, lets users decide how “brave” they want to be, and the system handles the heavy math behind the scenes.
Can you share an example where iMachining really changed the economics of a job?
A very typical case is a customer machining hard materials like tool steel or stainless steel. With traditional strategies, they were stuck with shallow cuts and long cycle times. After switching to 2D iMachining on pockets and contours, they could run full flute depth with controlled engagement and, in some cases, cut cycle time by more than half. Later, they applied 3D iMachining to complex surfaces, which reduced air-cutting and made the entire part family significantly more profitable and competitive.
Looking ahead, where do you see the biggest strategic impact of iMachining, and what advice do you have for a shop starting its first project?
The most visible impact starts on the shop floor: higher spindle utilization, more predictable cutting, and less firefighting. Once a shop trusts those gains, they can quote more confidently, shorten delivery commitments, and rethink how quickly they need to invest in new machines. For a first project, my advice is simple: pick a part everyone agrees is painful, document the current performance, then run it with iMachining. When you can show the time and tool life improvements in hard numbers, it becomes very easy to get buy-in across the company.
