What is DNC?
In the beginning, Data Processing Centers connected directly to Machine
Tools on the plant floor, and DNC stood for Direct Numerical Control. At
this time, a center connection was made between the machine tool controls and the computer
system. Today, instead of centralized connections, the prevalence of PC platforms
distributed throughout the plant floor has changed the meaning of DNC.
DNC now stands for Distributed
Numerical Control; multiple PC's performing communication tasks in a
distributed process environment. DNC communication allows access to
part programs that run the machine tools while providing critical real
time information for monitoring purposes.
The History of DNC
During the pre-PC era of the 1960’s, machine tools operated using
paper tape as a means of loading and running part programs. Many large
companies owned the legendary "size of a city block" style
mainframe computers and relied on them to communicate with their machine
tools. Technological advances in all facets of manufacturing led the users
of these computers to formulate ideas for running a wire directly from the
mainframe to the machine tool. DNC, or Direct Numerical Control, was born
of these initial attempts to create an uninterrupted avenue of
communication between the computer and the machine tool. Throughout the
late 1960’s and early 1970’s, fledgling DNC began to crop up in myriad
homegrown varieties as manufacturers developed their own versions of the
technology intended to take advantage of computer resources. Though the
technology brimmed with potential, the absence of a DNC industry forced
individual companies to wrestle with unreliable mainframes and under
developed ideas.
The scarcity of well-defined DNC processes meant that each machine tool
had to be individually addressed. Learning to speak the language of
different machine tools was a time consuming process, and created the need
for an industry leader with communication engineering already in place. By
the time the PC exploded into existence, Greco Systems had several years’
experience communicating with machine tools of all makes and models. In
the early 1980’s, Greco Systems was the first to eliminate the mainframe
and tie PC to machine tool. Over time, PC’s grew more powerful and could
communicate in an entire network of machine tools. As technology improved,
DNC, adopted Distributed Numerical Control, as the industry moved towards
using PC's in distributed processing.
As the first to turn the PC into an active machine tool communication
device, Greco Systems initiated, defined and continues to lead the DNC
industry. In 1984 Greco Systems introduced VersaNet, the first DOS based
numerical control system. The first installation of VersaNet at General
Dynamics in San Diego, California cost less to install than what the
company spent in one year on the maintenance of their previous DNC system. The obvious benefits of DNC led Greco Systems to develop the
first Windows 3.1 based system in 1993, followed by
WinDNC the Windows 95/NT compatible
software package in 1996.
DNC Today from Greco Systems
Greco Systems continues to
carry and support its hardware and software devices for the machine tool
industry. Obsolete paper tape and mainframe computers, once replaced by Greco
Systems’
DNC software,
CNC Minifiles and
Touch Screen Computers, will experience a
new revolution in the machine industry with the
e-DNC Hub. Greco Systems
turns the corner from complex DNC systems, requiring a range of
specialized skills to install, to an intelligent DNC Hub/Asynchronous
Router. The device, e-DNC Hub, is a self-contained unit that
includes the hardware and software to administer, control and operate the
DNC environment. E-DNC Hub is a significant change in philosophy,
using true state-of-the-art technology, while maintaining simplicity in
construction and outstanding performance second to none.
We welcome your comments. Please email them to webmaster@grecosystems.com.
