and return, field support, and after hours support. It had over 30 locations in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina. The company provides these services to machine tool builders, machine tool dealers, and small mom and pop tool shops across a variety of industries. In 1977, the company was established as a wholly owned subsidiary of FANUC Ltd of Oshino-mura, Japan. GE Fanuc Intelligent Platforms (1986-2010) was a joint venture between General Electric and FANUC Ltd. In 2009, GE and FANUC Ltd. agreed to split, with FANUC Ltd. retaining the CNC business. GE renamed its part of the business GE Intelligent Platforms. FANUC India operations are led by Sonali Kulkarni. FANUC NC controller Control / device naming conventions Each generation of the FANUC numerical control system has different levels of device control capabilities, and these are generally referred to by a model or series number. Each controller model is typically available with several device control capabilities, depending on what software functions are licensed for use on that device. Some common control capabilities are: M - Milling T - Turning (lathe) TT - Twin Turret P - Punch press G - Grinding Within each model name, there can also be generational updates for each model, usually indicated by a trailing letter. Model 0 is somewhat unusual in that both the number zero and the letter O are used interchangeably to indicate the model. There is no specific syntax for distinguishing the model from the device type and series, with spaces or dashes or slashes, which can result in difficulty searching for information, parts, and service for this equipment. For example, in the FANUC-0 series, these are all valid identifications for various types of NC controls and machines: NC controller capabilities When separate computer aided manufacturing software is used to control these different systems, the model differences can be used to tell the manufacturing software how to more efficiently use the system programming capabilities. Some FANUC NC controllers include: See also Industrial robot Numerical control References External links FANUC Corporation FANUC America Corporation FANUC Robotics Corporation FANUC Europe Corporation FANUC UK Ltd Hoover's Profile: FANUC CORPORATION FANUC's thumbnail overview of the history of FANUC CNC FANUC Introduces R-30iB Plus Robot Controller Finding FANUC powered CNC machine tools in the USA Multinational companies headquartered in Japan Manufacturing companies of Japan Robotics companies of Japan Companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Industrial