to hear, see, or smell a problem such as a broken tool, the load monitor serves an important sentry duty. When it senses overload condition, which semantically suggests a dull or broken tool, it commands a stop to the machining. Technology is available nowadays to send an alert to someone remotely (e.g., the sleeping owner, operator, or owner-operator) if desired, which can allow them to come to intercede and get production going again, then leave once more. This can be the difference between profitability or loss on some jobs because lights-out machining reduces labor hours per part. Warn of a tool that is becoming dull and must be replaced or sharpened. Thus, an operator tending multiple machines is told by a machine, essentially, "Pause what you're doing over there, and come attend to something over here." It is common practice to bring the tool in rapidly to a "safe" point that is close to the part—in this case, 0.1" away—and then start feeding the tool. How close that "safe" distance is, depends on the preference of the programmer and/or operator and the maximum material condition for the raw stock. If the program is wrong, there is a high probability that the machine will crash, or ram the tool into the part, vice, or machine under high power. This can be costly, especially in newer machining centers. It is possible to intersperse the program with optional stops ( code) that let the program run piecemeal for testing purposes. The optional stops remain in the program but are skipped during normal running. Fortunately, most CAD/CAM software ships with CNC simulators that display the movement of the tool as the program executes. Nowadays the surrounding objects (chuck, clamps, fixture, tailstock, and more) are included in the 3D models, and the simulation is much like an entire video game or virtual reality environment, making unexpected crashes much less likely. Many modern CNC machines also allow programmers to execute the program in a simulation mode and observe the operating parameters of the machine at a particular execution point. This enables programmers to discover semantic errors (as opposed to syntax errors) before losing material or tools to an incorrect program. Depending on the size of the part, wax blocks may be used for testing purposes as well. Additionally, many machines support operator overrides for both rapid and feed rate that can be used to reduce the