Gibbs and Associates Celebrates 30 Years of Innovation

The Cimatron company and developer of GibbsCAM^® software for programming CNC machine tools, announced that it is celebrating 30 years of innovation in the CAD/CAM industry.

“We want to extend our thanks to our customers,” said Bill Gibbs, the president and founder of Gibbs and Associates (Moorpark, CA). “We owe our longevity in this market to them. We learn and grow from them every day, and would not be here without them. And in return, they have our commitment to ongoing growth and improvements to our software that ensures that the investment they have made in our CAM software will continue to pay dividends for them in the future.” He continued, “In addition to our customers, we are grateful to our employees and industry partners that have all contributed to the successful business that we are today, with 2011 being the most profitable year in our 30-year history.”

In 1982, Gibbs began a business venture as an NC programmer with a CAM system that he had designed for a machine tool dealer. That venture changed direction two years later with the introduction of the Apple^® Macintosh^® computer. Impressed by the graphics and graphic user interface, he knew that the Macintosh computer would be the perfect platform for a user-friendly CAM system, and soon after began development on The Gibbs System. The Macintosh-based system focused on “CAD/CAM for the Machinist,” providing tools that were easy to use and specialized for their purposes.

In 1993, the popularity of IBM PCs led Gibbs to create a PC-based CAM system called Virtual Gibbs^®, later renamed GibbsCAM. Coming from a Macintosh background proved useful in creating software that is both easy to learn and easy to use. Powerfully Simple, Simply Powerful has been a guiding philosophy of the development of GibbsCAM, utilizing a graphic-user interface and continuing to focus on programming parts with the machinist in mind. Moveable tiles, high quality graphics, and the ability to see the part being cut on-screen have all contributed to the software becoming a leading CAM system.

In January 2008 Gibbs and Associates merged with Cimatron Ltd., a leading provider of CAD/CAM solutions for the tool, die and mold making markets, to become an independently operated subsidiary of the Cimatron Group, also celebrating its 30 year anniversary. The combination provides customers a much broader range of best-in-class CAD/CAM applications, and provides the combined company a much stronger, worldwide presence to access and support customers in manufacturing.

Gibbs has continued to add power and functionality to its product line and offers a full complement of solutions.  machining of surfaces and solid models, multi-task machining (MTM),  both 4 and 5-axis simultaneous machining, wire EDM and machine simulation. Gibbs has built an impressive library of over 11,000 edit-free post processors, as well as CAD interoperability for all the major CAD systems.