Manufacturing control software has existed in a rudimentary form since the advent of Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machines. The term CNC refers to the computerized control of machine tools, to facilitate the repeated production of complex parts in all kinds of materials. CNC was developed in the late 1940s and early 1950s in the M.I.T.

Early CNC machines used a software program written in a notation called G-Code. In the early days, the computers were very large in size and were power guzzlers. Despite their huge presence, the 1950 computers had very limited processing or data storage power. Therefore, computers were not used in the manufacturing industry, till the appearance of Personal Computers (PCs) and suitable Operating Systems in the 1980s.

With The PC explosion in the 1980s, CNC manufacturers started shifting to PC-based controls running Microsoft Windows or O/S 2 operating systems, which can be linked to the existing networks using standard protocols. Manufacturing companies began to move away from, expensive minicomputer and workstation based CAD/CAM which usually ran on G-Code, towards the more cost-effective PC-based software solutions. PC-based systems which can accomplish complicated tasks, using standard network protocols are available at minimal or no cost. In most cases, the Manufacturers do not need an 'expert' to implement shop floor networking, and can do the implementation themselves.

The demand for sophisticated manufacturing software has grown tremendously, over the last fifteen years and affords a lot of new and exciting functionality, to a variety of machines in the manufacturing industry.

Many software developers write and provide proprietary software systems. These are for manufacturing companies, employing computer control of machine tools such as milling machines, cutting machines, robots, hexapods, and lathes. However, these software programs are supplied for a fee, and are subject to Copyright Act provisions. Free open source CNC control software is also available on Internet.

Manufacturing Software provides detailed information on Manufacturing Software, Manufacturing Inventory Software, Manufacturing Business Software, Manufacturing Management Software and more. Manufacturing Software is affiliated with Free CAD Software.

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What is a CNC Machine? CNC stands for Computer Numeric Control. Sounds complicated, but it isn’t. Years ago, it was just NC, or Numeric Control. Since, they’ve added computers to control the machine.

In the simplest of terms, think of a drill press. It’s a machine that drills holes. But before you can drill the hole, you have to loosen the chuck, install the correct drill bit, drill the hole in the correct place, turn off the drill, and remove the drill bit. Manually, this could be time consuming and cause fatigue over the course of numerous parts. This is a simple example, but throw in some lathe or milling machining and you have a greater chance for error.

With the CNC machine, all of this drilling can be done automatically instead of the manual process listed above. Machining has to be precise, and whether you use a CNC lathe or milling machine, you have to make sure the part is right. The computer takes a lot of the guesswork out of the machining of these parts. In fact, a CNC programmer can sometimes get bored watching the machine do all the work.

But there is more programming for the machine than you would think. The operator has to enter a set of instructions. The programming uses about 50 words and tells the machine how fast, how deep, and location for machining.

What can you do with a CNC machine? In manufacturing, you can use this tool for milling, drilling, reaming, boring and counter boring. You can also groove and thread parts in a CNC turning center. You may have several setups including CNC lathes, CNC drill and tap area, CNC milling, or even CNC grinding.

EDM (electrical discharge machining) can also take advantage of CNC operations. EDM can be either vertical or wire. A vertical EDM machine uses an electrode to make a cavity for a plastic injection-molding machine. A wire EDM machine uses a wire to cut metal for a tooling operation for fabrication. EDM is more closely related to making tooling for other machines, people often overlook the use of CNC with these machines.

CNC machines can also be used with routers in the wood industry. CNC can also be used with lettering and engraving.

I hope this gave you some basic information about what a CNC machine is and what they are used for.

Stuart Simpson

http://www.cnc-machine-review.com

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Stuart Simpson - EzineArticles Expert Author