# Is process planning worth keeping as a separate step, or does it just live inside the CAM program?

**URL:** <https://cnc-routers.org/t/is-process-planning-worth-keeping-as-a-separate-step-or-does-it-just-live-inside-the-cam-program/119>\
**Category:** CAD/CAM Software\
**Created:** [November 10, 2026, 12:55pm UTC](https://cnc-routers.org/t/is-process-planning-worth-keeping-as-a-separate-step-or-does-it-just-live-inside-the-cam-program/119 "2026-11-10T12:55:45Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![clara\_b](https://cnc-routers.org/user_avatar/cnc-routers.org/clara_b/32/65_2.png) [@clara\_b](https://cnc-routers.org/u/clara_b)\
**Post date:** [November 10, 2026, 12:55pm UTC](https://cnc-routers.org/t/is-process-planning-worth-keeping-as-a-separate-step-or-does-it-just-live-inside-the-cam-program/119/1 "2026-11-10T12:55:45Z")

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Small shop here, three machines, six or seven people. The owner wants to add capacity (an EDM among other things) and tighten up the way we run jobs, and the uncomfortable part is that none of us has really seen a proper process. I have been here about two and a half years and everyone else is roughly as new as I am.

How the work is split at the moment:

- one person does quoting, buys the raw stock and deals with outside services like powder coating
- three of us run machines and do the CAM. Setup sheets are Excel files we put together as we go. Time splits around 60/40 between programming and planning work versus standing at the machine
- two people handle material prep, setup and machine tending
- one does inspection

What I keep going back and forth on is process planning as its own stage. It looks redundant to me, because every operation is already sitting in the CAM file and I can see the whole sequence there. The traceability argument I get, and we could print the operation list and let the operator work from the paper. But is that really how it is done, or should planning be held back as a separate step so the decisions are made before anyone opens the programming software?

I would like to hear how other small shops organize this. Still learning, so if the question is naive, that is the reason.

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**Author:** ![jess](https://cnc-routers.org/user_avatar/cnc-routers.org/jess/32/52_2.png) [@jess](https://cnc-routers.org/u/jess)\
**Post date:** [November 10, 2026, 5:55pm UTC](https://cnc-routers.org/t/is-process-planning-worth-keeping-as-a-separate-step-or-does-it-just-live-inside-the-cam-program/119/2 "2026-11-10T17:55:53Z")

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Sorry if this is obvious, but what, if any, process planning do you guys do before anyone opens the CAM program right now? I’m not sure either.

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**Author:** ![edgecase](https://cnc-routers.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/e/cab0a1/32.png) [@edgecase](https://cnc-routers.org/u/edgecase)\
**Post date:** [November 11, 2026, 2:07am UTC](https://cnc-routers.org/t/is-process-planning-worth-keeping-as-a-separate-step-or-does-it-just-live-inside-the-cam-program/119/3 "2026-11-11T02:07:42Z")

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Have you considered what happens when a CAM file is modified mid-job to fix a mistake? I have no idea how that would affect separate process planning.