John T. Parsons (1913-2007) of Parsons Corporation in Traverse City, MI is considered the pioneer of the numerical control, the precursor to the modern CNC machine. For his work, John Parsons has been called the father of the 2nd industrial revolution. He needed to manufacture complex helicopter blades and quickly realized that the future of manufacturing was connecting machines to computers. Today CNC-manufactured parts can be found in almost every industry. Because of CNC machines, we have less expensive goods, stronger national defense and a higher standard of living than is possible in a non-industrialized world. In this article, we’ll explore the origins of the CNC machine, different types of CNC machines, CNC machine programs and common practices by CNC machine shops.