Editing Computer-aided manufacturing (section)

{{Short description|Use of software to control industrial processes}}
{{More citations needed|date=October 2009}}
[[File:CAD model and CNC machined part.PNG|thumb|CAD model and [[CNC]] machined part]]

'''Computer-aided manufacturing''' ('''CAM''') also known as '''computer-aided modeling''' or '''computer-aided machining'''<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Mörmann |first1=W. H. |last2=Bindl |first2=A. |title=All-ceramic, chair-side computer-aided design/computer-aided machining restorations. |journal=Dental Clinics of North America |volume=46 |issue=2 |pages=405–26, viii |doi=10.1016/S0011-8532(01)00007-6 |pmid=12014040 |date=2002}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Method and apparatus for computer aided machining |url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US5933353A/en |language=en |date=16 September 1997}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Yong |first1=Loong Tee |last2=Moy |first2=Peter K. |title=Complications of Computer-Aided-Design/Computer-Aided-Machining-Guided (NobelGuide™) Surgical Implant Placement: An Evaluation of Early Clinical Results |journal=Clinical Implant Dentistry and Related Research |volume=10 |issue=3 |pages=123–127 |language=en |doi=10.1111/j.1708-8208.2007.00082.x |pmid=18241215 |date=2008}}</ref> is the use of [[software]] to control [[machine tools]] in the [[manufacturing]] of work pieces.<ref name="ota">{{cite book | last = [[U.S. Congress]], [[Office of Technology Assessment]] | title = Computerized manufacturing automation | page = 48 | publisher= Diane Publishing | year = 1984 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=LYdF5akRL6sC&pg=PA48 | isbn = 978-1-4289-2364-5}}</ref><ref>{{Citation | last1 = Hosking | first1 = Dian Marie | last2 = Anderson | first2 = Neil | title = Organizational change and innovation | page = 240 | publisher = Taylor & Francis | year = 1992 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=TbwOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA240 | isbn = 978-0-415-06314-2}}</ref><ref name="daintith">{{cite book | last = Daintith | first = John | title = A dictionary of computing | page = 102 | publisher = Oxford University Press | year = 2004 | edition = 5 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Hay6vTsGFAsC&pg=PA102 | isbn = 978-0-19-860877-6}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| last = Kreith | first = Frank | author-link= Frank Kreith | title = The CRC handbook of mechanical engineering | page = 15-1<!-- Not a range. --> | publisher = CRC Press | year = 1998| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=OpD226SXKisC&pg=PT1972 | isbn = 978-0-8493-9418-8 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last = Matthews | first = Clifford | title = Aeronautical engineer's data book | page = 229 | publisher = Butterworth-Heinemann | year = 2005 | edition = 2nd | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=5W9Rqq3qP1QC| isbn = 978-0-7506-5125-7}}</ref> This is not the only definition for CAM, but it is the most common.<ref name="ota"/> It may also refer to the use of a computer to assist in all operations of a [[manufacturing plant]], including planning, [[Industrial management|management]], transportation and storage.<ref>{{cite book| last1 = Pichler | first1 = Franz | last2 = Moreno-Díaz | first2 = Roberto | title = Computer aided systems theory | page = 602 | publisher = Springer | year = 1992 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=xmHL8KONTXUC&pg=PA602 | isbn = 978-3-540-55354-0}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last1 = Boothroyd | first1 = Geoffrey | last2 = Knight | first2 = Winston Anthony | title = Fundamentals of machining and machine tools | page = 401 | publisher = CRC Press | year = 2006 | edition = 3rd | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Y0cRCFalmekC&pg=PA401 | isbn = 978-1-57444-659-3}}</ref> Its primary purpose is to create a faster [[production process]] and components and tooling with more precise dimensions and material consistency, which in some cases, uses only the required amount of raw material (thus minimizing waste), while simultaneously reducing energy consumption.{{Citation needed|date=March 2010}}
CAM is now a system used in schools and lower educational purposes.{{Where|date=January 2022}}
CAM is a subsequent computer-aided process after [[computer-aided design]] (CAD) and sometimes [[computer-aided engineering]] (CAE), as the model generated in CAD and verified in CAE can be input into CAM software, which then controls the machine tool. CAM is used in many schools alongside CAD to create objects.