Mining equipment supplier Sandvik has signed an agreement to acquire Canada-based ICAM Technologies, a solution provider that translates CAM data into optimised coding for guiding CNC machining operations.

Sandvik said the acquisition would enable it to provide more productive solutions within the component manufacturing process.

It said that ICAM's software combines post-processing, machine simulation and tool path optimisation into solutions that programming and part machining time.

The software is complementary with the verification and optimisation technology of CGTech, a global leader in software for numerical simulation, verification and optimising, also owned by Sandvik.

Stefan Wilding, president and chief executive officer of Sandvik, said: "Through this acquisition, we are strengthening our offer in verification and optimization as well as our value proposition to customers across their value chain."

Nadine Crauwels, president of Sandvik Manufacturing Solutions, described the acquisition as "inline" with the company's overall business strategy and focus.

"Our strong position within CNC machine simulation, combined with ICAM's post-processing capabilities, will enable us to deliver a complete workflow for new NC program deployment, from post-processing to highly optimized NC programs running on the machine," Crauwels explained.