KinetiCAD reads the CAD model and the technical drawing, plans the job across your own machines (lathe to mill), writes and verifies the NC programs, prices the quote and books the machine time. Your team reviews and releases.
KinetiCAD is a pilot partner of Siemens through its Frontier programme, which brings Siemens together with teams working on the frontiers of manufacturing workflow automation. The collaboration puts our automated inquiry-to-NC workflow alongside Siemens-controlled machines and the industrial software around them - the direction shop-floor automation is heading.
[ Talk to us about the pilot ]
KinetiCAD was selected as a 2026 Hessen Ideen Stipendium winner among 100+ applications. The state-backed founder scholarship supports deep-tech ventures emerging from Hessen's universities and funds the team through the second half of 2026.
[ Read about the programme ]It's planning. A customer sends a CAD file and a quantity. Someone experienced has to understand the part, decide which machines it needs, work out setup and cycle times, and put a price on it - one to two hours for a simple part, a full day for a complex one. If the quote is accepted, all of it happens again: the real plan, the NC programs, and a slot on a machine that isn't already full or down for maintenance.
One to two hours when the part is simple. Often the whole day when it isn't - spent before anyone has promised you anything.
The planning is real work. It just isn't paid work - and only a fraction of quotes turn into orders.
Winning it means doing the whole thing again - this time with the NC programs and a slot on a machine that isn't already full or in maintenance.
Job preparation has always been the bottleneck we couldn't automate. When a drawing changes, even slightly, someone has to go back and plan and program the part from scratch. What KinetiCAD showed us is exactly what this industry has been missing.
This is what comes back from a STEP model, a drawing and a quantity: a route across your machines, the NC programs that drive them, and a verification result. The simulated part is compared against the CAD model, and the program is released only when they agree and your operator says so.
| OP | MACHINE | SETUP | TOOL | MIN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | Emco TURN E65 | Face, turn Ø40 h7, part off | T03 | 12.4 |
| 20 | HURCO VMX 30i | Setup A · 4× M8 through, pocket | T07 | 18.1 |
| 30 | HURCO VMX 30i | Setup B · re-fixture, bore Ø25 H7 | T11 | 6.2 |
( OP20 · HURCO VMX 30i · SETUP A )
N120 G54 G90 G17
N130 T07 M06
N140 S6360 M03
N150 G43 H07 Z50.
N160 G00 X20. Y0.
N170 G81 R2. Z-20. F508
N180 X40. Y0.
N190 X20. Y20.
N200 G80
N210 G00 Z50. M09If either deviation exceeds threshold, the program is not released.
This is the workflow we are building. A customer's file arrives, the job is planned, priced and approved, the programs are written and verified against the model, and the machine is booked. Then the part is loaded, moved from machine to machine down its route, and put away finished. The first half runs today in the pilot. The second half is what we are building next.
