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How do you estimate / quote programming times?

hoju6886
Hey, all!

I am looking for a very simple answer to a very complicated question. I have a TON of work ahead of me and my boss wants to know how long it will take to complete.

I have a very broad spectrum of parts that are all quite different from each other. I have heard that a general rule of thumb is you can apply "five minutes per touch". I have, at the end of a program, counted how many touches the CMM takes, and I can look at how long it took to me to program the part, and this rule of thumb, isn't that far off.

The problem is BEFORE programming, or putting in too much work, I would like a quick and easy method to arrive at a ballpark guess at programming time. I have lots of experience, and I can look at a part and give a ballpark estimate, but my boss wants a layman or someone who is not a CMM programmer to be able to look at a model of a part, and by feature count or some other metric, be able to determine how long it would take a CMM programmer to write a program. (approx.)

Anyone out there know a trick or rule of thumb that could help me out here? Thanks in advance!

TheWhiteSpider
PC-DMIS 2013
offline CAD++
NX/Unigraphics into .IGES files
  • I do all my programming offline and I always try to have a really fleshed out idea of the set-up before hand. I try to spend all my time up front, so when we get the actual part in our hands, we don't spend too much time on the proveout.

    Typically, I will go through a print, however many pages, and highlight what I think can go on the CMM and what can't, and what I will try to get, and all the datum features. From there, I can usually make a pretty good guess how long it will take, (then I double it! ;-) ) But, I guess AndersI has the right idea.



    The trick is, my boss or someone ELSE would like to look at the feature count or dimension count, and come up with a ballpark programming estimate.

    Thanks!

    WAIT!!!..........there are points on a print that can't go on the CMM Program??.....??.....I get asked to write PPAP programs where the print has been marked and EVERY single dimension is numbered. This is done on the portage table (round table), and can be done. But I try to explain that some of these features do not apply to the CMM....but no....I have to find a way..

    And this is only when the supervisor is mad because I proved him wrong on something, so my "punishment" is writing a PPAP program....LOL
  • Great advice all!

    Normally, I would be very skeptical about my boss being so zealous to know how long things should take to program, but this company is going through a lot of changes, and we are just trying to get an idea of the scope of work involved in retooling jobs, re-engineering jobs, and repairing a library of legacy CMM programs that looks like something out of Steven King's nightmares. All written by people that had no business writing programs, but is now my job to fix.

    As previously stated, and two parts are similar. JOB SECURITY!
  • A Good rule of thumb that has proven itself time and time again... The CMM Programming time is about half the time it takes to for the NC Programmers to program the part and release material to the shop floor for a trial run. Your boss needs to goto the Programming group at your company and find out what time frame they quoted then cut it in half for you. This applies to machined product CMM programmed off line to keep ahead of the curve.
    HTH.
  • I established an excel file once upon a time. Listed out all the different feature types and assigned times for each one. This time was based on taking ALL direct points and then performing constructions. I made a column for feature counts, then another column for patterned features. This allowed me to create a time buffer for things with patterns. It took a while to create and I based it originally on MY speed/skill set, then went back and modified it for the average of our group to give better estimates all around. If you work by yourself, this should be about a week or twos project to complete. Your boss will love you, and because you are creating it, you can add a slight buffer for your own protection.
  • Holy cow! 3000 features in 84 sq in. Now that's micro management at it's finest.
  • I always give myself a couple extra days, This way the boss is happy when I get it done early and It gives me time to R&R the program before I release it use.
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