NCTransform® Capability

Full Part Alignment

Global Orientation

Stop wrestling parts into position. With Full Part Alignment, your team can fixture a part simply, push start, and let NCT find the true datum structure automatically, across all 6 degrees of freedom. Your program adapts to the part. Not the other way around.

Nominal vs. measured datum structure: 6-DOF alignment

6-DOF

Full degrees of freedom: translate and rotate in X, Y, Z

Any CNC

Works on any live CNC machine

1st run

First-run quality: eliminate setup iterations and scrap

Simple

Reduces fixture complexity: use what you already have

The Challenge

Part setup is where time and money are lost.

When a part’s datum structure doesn’t match the NC program, your team pays in scrap, rework, and hours of manual indicating. The traditional answer is expensive fixtures and skilled operators. NCTransform® is a better one.

How it Works

Probe. Compute. Transform. Cut.

Your team pushes start. Everything else happens automatically, no manual data entry, no separate measurement step, no program editing. The same cycle runs identically for every operator on every shift.

01

Define the datum structure once

Your programmer defines which features make up the part’s datum structure: bores, faces, planes, or any combination. Configure it once per part type and your whole team reuses it for every cycle, forever.

NCT supports planes, bores, bosses, spheres, cones, and composite datum structures. Any feature measurable by a probe can serve as a datum reference.

02

NCT probes the part automatically

The probing cycle runs without any operator input, measuring the actual position and orientation of the datum features exactly as the part is fixtured. No one needs to touch it.

The part never needs to leave the machine. NCT captures real-world position data and feeds it directly into the transformation, no manual measurement transcription, no error risk.

03

The full 6-DOF transformation is computed, iteratively

NCT computes all three translations and three rotations simultaneously. Crucially, this is an iterative process. NCT keeps probing and refining the solution until the result converges within a defined tolerance. Your team gets a transformation that is provably correct, not just a single-pass estimate.

The convergence tolerance is configurable per part type. NCT will re-probe and recompute as many times as needed to meet it and will alert your team if convergence cannot be achieved, catching fixturing problems before any material is cut.

04

Your existing program is transformed automatically

Every tool path, approach move, and retract in your existing NC program is updated to reflect the measured part position. Your team never edits a line of code. The same program works no matter how the part landed.

The original program is preserved. NCT applies the transformation at runtime. One program serves all fixturing variations, reducing your programming overhead over time.

05

Cut and know it's right

Machining runs against the actual part datum. Your team gets first-run quality without setup iterations, scrap cycles, or post-machining rework. NCT can optionally re-probe after machining to verify and generate an inspection record before the part leaves the fixture.

Every event is logged against the part serial number. Alignment data, deviations, timestamps, and machine name, giving your quality team full traceability without any manual paperwork.

Iterative convergence

NCT keeps going until the solution is right.

Unlike a single-pass alignment, NCT runs an iterative probe-and-compute loop, re-measuring and refining the transformation until the result falls within your defined convergence tolerance. If the part can’t be aligned within tolerance, NCT flags it before any cutting begins. Your team never cuts a part that wasn’t properly aligned.

Technical detail

What 6 degrees of freedom means for your setups.

A part sitting in a fixture can be off in six independent ways: three positional shifts and three angular tilts. Full Part Alignment corrects all six simultaneously, so your team never has to chase them one at a time.

Translation X

Your part shifted left or right in the fixture. NCT finds it and shifts your program to match, no shimming, no re-indicating.

Translation Y

Your part is forward or back from nominal. NCT accounts for it automatically alongside X and Z in the same cycle.

Translation Z

Your part is high or low in the fixture. Critical for axial positioning on bores, turned parts, and datum faces, handled without any operator adjustment.

Rotation about X

Your part is tilted front-to-back. Left uncompensated, this error grows the further a feature is from the datum. NCT corrects it in the program before the first cut.

Rotation about Y

Your part is tilted side-to-side. Especially punishing on long parts. A small angular error at the datum becomes a large positional error at the far end. NCT catches it automatically.

Rotation about Z

Your part is clocked incorrectly in the fixture. Common on castings and forgings. NCT corrects the yaw rotation in the program so your team doesn't have to clock the part perfectly every time.

See it in action

Full part alignment: live demo

Watch NCTransform® probe a part’s datum structure and automatically transform the NC program in real time on a CNC machine.

Business impact

What your team gains from day one.

Build simpler fixtures

Your fixtures no longer need to position parts with micron-level precision. NCT handles the alignment in software. Design simpler, cheaper fixtures and spend less time maintaining them.

Set up parts faster

Your team eliminates hours of manual indicating and shimming per setup. Load the part, push start. NCT completes the full alignment cycle automatically while your operator moves on to the next task.

Hit quality on the first cut

Your program is aligned to the actual part before any material is removed. Your team gets first-run quality, dramatically reducing scrap and rework on high-value, low-volume parts.

Run it with any operator

The alignment process is fully automated and repeatable. Any operator on any shift achieves the same result. Your process stops depending on one person's skill or tribal knowledge.

Win work you couldn't take before

Take on complex parts and demanding setups that previously required elaborate fixturing or expert machinists. Your shop can bid, win, and profit from work you'd have had to pass on.

Use your existing equipment

No new machines, no new controllers, no capital investment. NCT works with the CNC machines, probing systems, and CAM software your team already uses today.

Applications

Where global orientation is used.

Full part alignment is especially valuable wherever part variation, fixture simplicity, or setup speed are critical factors.

01

Aerospace castings and forgings

Engine cases, housings, and structural castings carry real variation from nominal. Your team can machine them confidently without building elaborate fixtures to compensate. NCT handles the variation in the program.

02

Turbine engine ducts

Complex cylindrical and conical duct geometries in titanium or Inconel are impossible to fixture perfectly. Your team can align accurately and cut with confidence, no elaborate setup required.

03

Repaired and reworked parts

Weld repair, additive material, and previous machining all change a part’s as-is geometry. Your team can re-align the program to the part’s current state and cut right, without re-programming from scratch.

04

High-value, low-volume parts

When a single part is worth thousands or tens of thousands of dollars, your team can eliminate setup scrap entirely. The ROI is immediate.

05

Second operations and re-chucking

When a part goes back in the fixture for a second operation, your team can re-align automatically, no matter how the part landed. No manual re-indicating, no setup sheets to chase.

06

Composite and carbon fiber structures

Composite parts have inherent lay-up variation that makes nominal-based programming unreliable. Your team can machine each part to its actual shape, not the theoretical model.

"

"The base material in composites is very inconsistent. With NC Transform, we can probe the part to learn its actual shape, best-fit the physical part to the nominal CAD model, and machine the physical datums exactly where they need to be."

T. Cox

Director of Engineering

Probe & fit

Learn the actual shape, best-fit to nominal CAD

Composites

Handles inherent layup variability automatically

Exact datums

Physical datums machined exactly where they need to be

Other NCTransform® capabilities

Ready to stop wrestling parts into position?

Tell us about your application. We’ll show you what your team can do with it.