Machining center automation, by machine brand
42 model pages for vertical, horizontal and gantry machining centers, drill & tap centers, five-axis and high-speed machining centers and heavy machine tools: how each machine type is fed, clamped, unloaded and lined up, and what the concept is checked against.
Vertical machining centers (11 pages)
Concentrated operations, several tools cutting one part and a fairly stable cycle.
Horizontal machining centers (9 pages)
Many operations per part and long machining times, which is what makes pallet exchange with off-machine clamping worthwhile.
Gantry machining centers (5 pages)
Large parts and long machining times, where the gain comes mainly from less crane waiting and less alignment work.
Drill & tap centers (4 pages)
A very short machining time per part, where manual handling easily becomes the bottleneck.
Five-axis machining centers (6 pages)
Long machining times and high part value, where consistency and traceability matter more than cycle time.
High-speed machining centers (3 pages)
High spindle speeds and short cutting times, with a surface quality requirement higher than on conventional machines.
Heavy machine tools (4 pages)
Heavy parts and long cycle times, where the gain comes from less crane waiting and more consistent clamping.
The lathe topics of this batch (8 pages)
Turning and milling clamp the part differently and feed it from a different direction. The lathe topics inside this batch already have their own pages in the lathe directory, so they are not repeated here.
What these pages say, and what they do not
Two rules are carried on every page in this directory, because a machine-type page is not a project record.
Note The brand and model information on this page comes from the company's own material and is used to explain the differences in automation fit between machine families, series and models. A brand name does not mean agency, authorization, certification or partnership, and does not mean that a project has been completed on a machine of that brand. Whether a specific model can be loaded and unloaded automatically has to be confirmed on site against the chuck, the door and guard structure, the fixture type and the layout.
Scope Each page sets out the machine data the concept is checked against, the configurations the machine can take, the part families it suits and what has to be measured or photographed before selection. No page carries a customer name, an installed base, a cycle time or a result figure unless a closed project and the customer's disclosure authorization exist.