Hold the model, simulation, workholding and proof run behind every five-axis part.

Five-axis work is expensive before the first chip is cut. A programmer may spend days on toolpaths, a collision check and a post-processor setting, and a single mistake can damage a spindle or a trunnion. The proof of that effort is usually a folder of files and a message thread. Nobody can audit it.

Management software for five-axis shops treats programming as work that is quoted, tracked and billed. One complex part can be followed from model revision to the inspection report, which shows exactly where programme history is lost.

A buyer sends a model, often a surface or a thin-wall form, with tight profile tolerances and a note about material, such as titanium, Inconel or aluminium forging. The estimator judges the programming effort, the cutter stick-out, the number of setups and the inspection method, and quotes a price that includes programming and proving.

The programmer builds the toolpath in CAM, runs a simulation against the machine model, and passes the file through the post-processor. A setter fits the part on a zero-point plate, probes the datums and cuts slowly on a first piece, sometimes in wax or aluminium before the real stock. Inspection follows on a CMM, and a scan against the model may be sent to the buyer.