OVERVIEW

When a part program is completed and sent to the machine shop, the programming process is over. All the calculations have been done, program has been written, documented, and the production file is on the way to the CNC machine. Is the programmer's job really finished? Is there some reason that could bring the program back, perhaps with operator's comments, suggestions, or even criticism?

If the delivered part program is perfect, programmer will not hear a word from any direction. No doubt, programmer will hear negative comments from all directions. The question is - when is the programmer's responsibility really over? At what point in the process of manufacturing can the programming results be evaluated? When can the program qualify as a good program?

Probably the fairest and the most reasonable answer would be whenever the part has been machined under the most optimized working conditions. This means that the programming responsibility does not end with the program and documentation delivery to the shop. The program at this stage is still very much in the development process. It still has to be loaded to the CNC system, the machine has to be set up, cutting tools mounted and measured and a variety of small jobs done before the first part can be started. Ture, all these tasks are the responsibility of CNC operator, so there is no need for the programmer to care what happens during machining, right?

Wrong! Every CNC programmer...