Siemens vs Fanuc, what would be the best Controller for a CNC?

Currently running a Siemens control here. Honestly you should need less support on this control then the Fanuc. I use to run all Fanuc and Mitsubishi controls. I would take the Siemens control any day over them. I believe the control is easier to learn for someone new. If you're curious and want to check out the control, you can by downloading Sinutrain from the Siemens website. It will let you run an emulator on your computer for a 3x mill or 3x lathe. You can get a feel for how the control is laid out and some of the functions with it. If you are asking which I would rather make a part on, on recent model years, Siemens for sure.
If you are asking which machine I would probably buy if I was a smaller business or limited on machinery, FANUC.

If I was cycling through machines regularly every 5-8 years I would probably get Siemens because the long term support wouldn't be an issue for me.

Currently running a Siemens control here. Honestly you should need less support on this control then the Fanuc. I use to run all Fanuc and Mitsubishi controls. I would take the Siemens control any day over them. I believe the control is easier to learn for someone new…..

So ease of learning takes precedence over long service life? Operator versus owner difference in viewpoint for sure.

Support, in the context of the majority of responses in this thread is related to long service life, not “how do I program a thread cycle”.

So ease of learning takes precedence over long service life? Operator versus owner difference in viewpoint for sure.

Support, in the context of the majority of responses in this thread is related to long service life, not “how do I program a thread cycle”.

Damn man, who shit in your cheerios. The OP was asking for different benefits of the 2 controls, I listed something that wasn't being discussed and that offends you to a level you need to shit post? I'm only stating my opinion as I have run both controls and am trying to give the OP a more diverse perspective on his purchase. I understand this forum doesn't really support the Siemens control. However, I've found that the vast majority of the resources needed for the machines are readily available online (all OEM documentation is free and posted to the website, they have some strong training videos through the MrCNC channel, and the control itself is better built for interfacing with.)
I do understand what people are saying here, that support might fall off in the future. I don't yet know what that looks like for these controls, as I haven't run them that long. Most of the resources listed above would still exist regardless. I'm guessing that most people are talking about replacement parts?

The Siemens and Fanuc controllers are actually pretty similar. But the one big plus with the Siemens is that when you set the z height, you just touch your tool off against height setting guage/block and subtract by the height of the guage/block.

With a Fanuc... You have to subtract the tool height from the machine's z height to get your height offset... Which requires using a calculator and navigating between your tool offset and height offset pages. Which increases the likelihood you'll get the wrong z offset by mistake.

In software, behind the scene, the Siemens control would be doing the same; it's not a case that the Tool Length exists for one control and not the other. It would depend on how the Machine Tool Builder implemented the control on their machine, that's not Fanuc's responsibility.

Even with this feature of setting the Z Wiorkshift Offset not being a standard feature of the machine, it's quite a simple Macro Program to write where all that is require is to bring any tool that is set in the Magazine in contact with Z Zero of the Workpiece and Press Cycle Start whilst executing the Z Workshift Setting Macro. If there is material between the touch of the tool and Z Zero of the Workpiece, this amount value is passed as an argument to the Macro Program.

Regards,

Bill

Can anyone explain this.

The Siemens and Fanuc controllers are actually pretty similar. But the one big plus with the Siemens is that when you set the z height, you just touch your tool off against height setting guage/block and subtract by the height of the guage/block.

With a Fanuc... You have to subtract the tool height from the machine's z height to get your height offset... Which requires using a calculator and navigating between your tool offset and height offset pages. Which increases the likelihood you'll get the wrong z offset by mistake.

You can do both of those methods with both of those controls.

So ease of learning takes precedence over long service life? Operator versus owner difference in viewpoint for sure.

Not exactly. Large corporations don't keep machines hanging around a long time either. That's how come us bottom-feeders can afford to buy ten year old Makinos. You're talking small shop guys; they aren't the only "owners" out there.

Different philosophy. Not what we like but perhaps has more relevance in the big wide world. Who really buys most machines, GM or Fred's Friendly Widget Shop ?

Support, in the context of the majority of responses in this thread is related to long service life, not “how do I program a thread cycle”.

'Support' seems to be mostly about wishful thinking. Even the people I know who mention Fanuc support end up buying their parts on ebay, because fanuc support costs more than the entire machine is worth. By that token, Bullard, American Tool, Fellows and other companies have 'support' too. Just make sure your cardiologist is on standby when you look at the quote.

From observation, I'd say 'support' is mostly dreams - Santa could really bring that pony ! - but at least fanuc has a giant amount of spares available cheap, and a lot of people can work on them.

My experience in the US has been that Siemens support lasts, at most, about 10 years and then you get abandoned.
Fanuc support lasts around 40 years.
Siemens CNCs are powerful, BUT - there's little 3rd party support or training.
Fanuc has quite a bit more 3rd party support.

In the US this may be the case however at 18% of world manufacturing and given the posters location it is largely irrelevant. Having run a few Siemens machines including the first under a JV between Yaskawa and Siemens I can say that they are excellent controls. However depending on location the support can be questionable.

So ease of learning takes precedence over long service life? Operator versus owner difference in viewpoint for sure.

Support, in the context of the majority of responses in this thread is related to long service life, not “how do I program a thread cycle”.

Almost 100% true in the context of this site. Having been involved in large capital equipment purchases and having watched many from the sidelines I have never purchased from a company that didn't provide same day service in a major city or see someone accept less. I have also watched large purchases go sideways when SLA's weren't agreed to upfront or where machines are the first of a new model incorporating new tech and are quickly superseded.

Not exactly. Large corporations don't keep machines hanging around a long time either. That's how come us bottom-feeders can afford to buy ten year old Makinos. You're talking small shop guys; they aren't the only "owners" out there..........

Some do, some don't. The last project I was involved with before retiring was moving the production of 777 landing gear components from the lazy B to a contract shop. The machines that they were being run on were 20+ year old 5 axis Makinos. That plant also still had 40 year old Cramic 6 spindle and Cinncy 4 spindle machines running. Of course those old multi-spindles were likely on their 4th retrofit since they weren't using Fanuc.

Some do, some don't. The last project I was involved with before retiring was moving the production of 777 landing gear components from the lazy B to a contract shop. The machines that they were being run on were 20+ year old 5 axis Makinos. That plant also still had 40 year old Cramic 6 spindle and Cinncy 4 spindle machines running. Of course those old multi-spindles were likely on their 4th retrofit since they weren't using Fanuc.

I'll see your 40 year old Cinncy and raise you a Butler Elga Planer Mill. Toyota SA built a new tool room next to the assembly plant outfitted with brand new 5 axis Fidia's and took the Elga Mill with to do large casting flat surfaces. Some of the old machines are irreplaceable for the function that they perform so well.

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