It is not uncommon for machining services to market their services as either production or precision milling. With today’s technology, there is also the possibility of having high volume production while still providing precision CNC milling.
The specific difference between the two is really in the exacting standards that precision CNC milling produces. The parts and components produced by CNC or computer numerical controlled equipment cannot be matched by manually operated equipment, which makes a difference in specific industries.
The CNC Advantage
CNC equipment is run by a computer. The computer reads from the original file (CAD/CAM or another file type) and coordinates the movement of the cutting tools and spindles precisely the same for every part produced. This eliminates even the slight differences that occur with manual equipment operation, even by a very skilled machinist.
In addition to avoiding the slight variations that can occur with manually operating the equipment, there is also much less waste using CNC machining technology. Once the program is set, there are no mistakes or errors, particularly with experienced operators monitoring the systems.
Using precision CNC milling creates parts to very tight tolerances. These parts can be extremely small components used in medical devices, or they may be larger parts used in the aerospace or military and defense industry. Additionally, depending on the specifics of the design, there may be no secondary operations or no change of machine necessary, which speeds up the process while also lowering the cost of production.
While it is not necessary for precision machining to occur in all parts produced, it does offer several benefits. Precision parts make assembly, installation, and fabrication easier, and they also ensure a longer life cycle with any moving parts in a system as they are precisely manufactured to meet the system design.
