1. The biggest difference is whether it has a tool magazine
Ordinary CNC milling machines also have a CNC operating system (such as FANUC, Siemens, China Huazhong or Guangshu, etc.), as well as three feed axes and a rotating spindle. Their processing mode geometry is exactly the same, and basically the same processing capabilities can be achieved.

The biggest difference between them is to see whether the equipment has a tool magazine. The machining center is actually a CNC milling machine with a tool magazine. The machining center can complete multiple machining processes in one clamping, such as milling, drilling, tapping and so on. Because it can realize automatic tool replacement, and in the continuous machining process of multiple processes, the operator does not need manual intervention, as long as the program is compiled, the tool and the corresponding parameters are configured. This is not the case with a CNC milling machine, which can also achieve multiple processes at one time. The difference is that during the process conversion, the milling machine must manually change the tool, so the machining process is discontinuous, and it is executed intermittently to many degrees. This kind of processing is slightly inferior to the processing center in terms of processing quality and processing efficiency.
　　 So when you see a piece of equipment in the future, you can directly determine whether it is a CNC milling machine or a machining center by whether it has a tool magazine.


2. Whether it is a full protective cover
In fact, this is not absolute for many equipment. Many CNC milling machines have gradually begun to make full protection processing modes. Of course, there are also many old-fashioned CNC milling machines that still use open processing methods or semi-protected processing methods. To a certain extent, this is different from the current machining center. Of course, this difference is not absolute (again).

In fact, this has a lot to do with the development process of the equipment. In the initial stage of numerical control of processing equipment, in fact, many manufacturers do not pay much attention to appearance design and safety protection, and basically stay on the demand for functions. Therefore, many CNC milling machines are made into an open form, or a better one is a semi-open form. Although this kind of CNC milling machine does not have too many defects in function. However, there are still great shortcomings in terms of processing safety and processing environment. For example, high-temperature iron filings produced by processing will splash on people and cause harm to the human body. The coolant used to cool the tool during the machining process will also splash on the operator, stain the operator's clothes, etc. Therefore, despite the progress in the research and development of production equipment, especially the invasion of foreign high-end equipment, the design and manufacture of processing equipment in our country is also moving towards a more humane, more beautiful, and more artistic road.

This is a process, and any progress requires a process. Product technology and product artistry are the unified requirements for industrial products in the future and the only way for the future development of industrial products.

3. Whether with automatic chip conveyor
This criterion is the same as the previous one, and it is not an absolute criterion. It is also a mobile standard judged based on the progress of processing equipment development. The reason is also due to the hindsight function of the previous equipment in the research and development. Many new-style CNC milling machines are basically equipped with full protection and automatic chip conveyors, which are not much different from machining centers.

CNC machining center
The machining center is developed from the CNC milling machine. The biggest difference with the CNC milling machine is that the machining center has the ability to automatically exchange machining tools. By installing tools for different purposes on the tool magazine, the machining tools on the spindle can be changed by the automatic tool changer in one clamping, realizing multiple machining functions.

CNC milling machine
CNC milling machine is an automatic processing equipment developed on the basis of general milling machines. The processing technology of the two is basically the same, and the structure is somewhat similar. CNC milling machines are divided into two categories: without tool magazine and with tool magazine.