Turn Parts Into Profits Faster with New Makino Pro6 CNC Control System

When it comes to complex, high-precision mold making, it is critical to provide machine operators with the tools and technologies that enable them to move fluidly through machine setups, easily access machine process data and conduct daily routines with safety and confidence. The new Makino Professional 6 (Pro6) CNC control system fulfills these needs and accelerates productivity for machine shops and tool, die and mold makers through streamlined touchscreen layouts, operator guidance and the latest machine functions.

Despite its new human-machine interface (HMI), the Pro6 incorporates several familiar functionalities from the previous Pro5 CNC control system. Its advanced touchscreen layout also offers many new productivity tools including screen customization, code and parameter search, guidance functions and other machine information — all at the operator’s fingertips.

“The Professional 6 control gets you from parts to profits with enhanced functionality by making the point where the operator meets the machine, a seamless transition,” said Jim Brown, Systems and Control Engineering Manager at Makino. “Cycle-time savings and dynamic-control capabilities have been added to the new control’s Geometric Intelligence functions to help lower costs per part.”

The number of physical buttons on the control has been reduced and replaced with touchscreen commands that mimic how modern web browsers operate. The new “My Panel” feature enables operators to store their frequently used functions, macros or switches for quick access. Other new features include a QWERTY keyboard, a larger 15-inch display and an interactive status bar at the top of the screen. Touch a warning, alarm or indicator status icon and the operator can see detailed information about the issue.

Familiar Interface. Advanced Functionality.

The Pro6 adds on-screen programming guidance for drilling canned cycles, probing, automatic tool length measurement (ATLM) and tilted working plane. The operator follows prompts and selects “input” to automatically insert lines of code into a program.

Pro6 has a converter to find parameter numbers based on the Pro5 number from its predecessor control, and automatically converts measurements from inches to millimeters.

Enhancements include Geometric Intelligence (GI) that provides 2-D corner control and optimized canned cycle indexing. Pro6 also has simultaneous program editing, MDI recall of the past 20 inputs and 3 GB of memory for program and subprogram storage, with an option to expand to 20 GB. When combined with control’s ease of use for operators of all skill levels, the new Pro6 raises the standard for machine control.

Assistance and Safety at Your Fingertips

The Pro6 comes with cutting-edge technology that perfectly blends the proven stability of FANUC hardware and Microsoft Windows Embedded Standard 7 OS. In addition, the new control features:

• Operator assistance — Code and manual search functions along with guidance functions and parameters on screen when and where they’re needed.
• Streamlined operation — The touchscreen’s layout matches the operator’s process flow from setup to production.
• Safety enhancements — Pro6 includes a dual door check, maintenance screens, easy access to machine information, and a 3-D graphic viewer.

Operators using the Pro6 will move fluidly through machine setup, with the control empowering them with easily accessible information. The Pro6 is designed to protect operators and the parts they make.

The new Pro 6 CNC control system is only available on select models. Contact Makino to inquire about specific availability on different machine models or on new machine factory orders.

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