Synchronous Multi‑Channel Machining on the Citizen Miyano ANX‑42SYY – SolidCAM Mill‑Turn

A Machine Built for Parallelism

The Citizen Miyano ANX-42SYY is a mill-turn center with main and subspindle, dual turrets, Y-axis, and driven tools on both turrets. In hardware terms, it is capable of:

• Balanced roughing (two tools cutting the same part simultaneously)
• Parallel machining on main and subspindle
• Axis superposition across channels
• Part transfer from spindle to spindle without cycle stop

The problem is that hardware without the right CAM solution remains underutilized. In practice, the owner pays for a 5-axis, 3-channel machine but uses it like a 2-axis lathe with live tooling.

What SolidCAM Advanced Mill-Turn Actually Delivers

The SolidCAM Advanced Mill-Turn module is designed for multi-turret / multi-spindle machines with no limits on axis or channel count. Three features make it a serious industrial tool, not just a postprocessor:

Channel Synchronization Manager – a visual Gantt-style timeline of all channels, with automatic collision detection and identification of “logical impossibilities” (e.g., two tools occupying the same zone at the same time).

Three Superposition Modes – a slave axis follows a master axis, enabling machining to continue even during transfer or rotation. SolidCAM automatically detects which mode is applicable for supported machines.

Balanced Rough, Parallel Machining, and Axis Synchronization – essential functions for top-tier machines like the ANX-42SYY, which conventional CAM systems simply do not support adequately.

The Core Issue: Parallel vs. Serial Thinking

The most important change isn’t technical—it’s a mindset shift for programmers and manufacturing engineers.

Serial model (classic lathe or basic mill-turn): operations run one after another. If roughing takes 60s, finishing 40s, milling 30s, transfer 10s, and back working 50s, the cycle time is 190s—over three minutes. For most of that time, the second turret and subspindle sit idle.

Synchronous parallel model with balanced roughing and superposition: while the upper turret roughs, the lower turret roughs from the opposite side (balanced roughing – opposing forces cancel out → reduced vibration, longer tool life, better surface finish).

As soon as the part moves to the subspindle, the main spindle already loads the next bar from the feeder and begins roughing, while the subspindle finishes back-working on the previous part in parallel.

Cycle time is no longer the sum of operations—it’s the duration of the most heavily loaded channel. 

On real-world ANX-class machines, this means cycle time reductions of 30% to over 50%, with better quality and lower tool consumption. This is a survival issue, not an optimization perk.

A competitor who programs the same machine synchronously achieves lower cost per part, shorter lead times, and better Cpk. In a tender, they win the job. Within a year, they buy the next machine. You stay with the same machine and the same program.

Investing in the Advanced Mill-Turn module and in training your manufacturing engineers is not an IT expense—it is an investment in your shop’s survival over the next five years.

What Solfins Does for Clients

Manufacturers of precision components—whether in medical, automotive, hydraulics, or electronics—no longer compete on price alone. They must perform simultaneously on three fronts: flawless quality (Cpk > 1.67, zero defects), short lead times (delivery in weeks, not months), and competitive unit cost despite rising energy, tooling, and labor expenses.

Our approach is not “sell a license.” We go through three steps:

• Audit of existing programs on your mill-turn machines – where time is wasted, where channels are “empty,” where serial workflow acts as a bottleneck.
• Pilot part – reprogram one real part in SolidCAM using balanced roughing, channel synchronization, and superposition, with before/after measurement.
• Implementation and training – postprocessor verified for your specific machine (including Citizen Miyano), programmer training, and a documented internal playbook.

Three attached videos illustrate part of step 2 – simulation of balanced roughing and channel synchronization with superposition for the ANX-42SYY.