Open-system CNC products have changed rapidly. The higher speed communications choices available today have led to many different types of open architecture.

Most of these open-system CNCs integrate the “openness” of a standard PC with conventional CNC functions. The key advantage of specifying an open-system CNC is that it can allow the CNC features to remain current with the state of technology and the needs of the process even while the machine hardware ages.

Among the capabilities that can be added to an open-system CNC via third-party software, some are more relevant and some are less relevant where mold machining is concerned. But across all shops using open-system CNCs, some of the most common choices include:
Low-cost network communications

Ethernet

Adaptive control

Interfaces to bar code readers, tool ID readers and/or pallet ID systems

Mass part-program storage and editing

SPC data collection

Documentation control

CAD/CAM integration or shopfloor programming

Common operator interfaces

The last item is particularly significant. A growing requirement in the mold industry is for the CNC to be easy to use. An important component of this ease of use is commonality of operation from CNC to CNC. Typically, operators must be trained separately for separate machines because the CNC interface differs between machine types and between machine tool builders. Open-system CNCs provide new opportunities for working toward a control interface that’s common throughout the shop.

Now, machine tool owners can design their own interfaces for CNC operation—and they don’t have to be C programmers to do so. In addition, open-system controls can permit individual log-on so personnel performing various functions—operator, programmer, maintenance and so on—see only the screens they need. Eliminating unnecessary screens makes CNC operation even more straightforward.