Are There Companies That Have Both PLC and CNC Machines?

PLC and CNC grew up in different buildings. PLCs came from discrete manufacturing: conveyor lines, packaging cells, press tending. CNC came from metal cutting, where the controller has to close a position loop on every axis while a spindle turns. The two control stacks share almost nothing at the code level, which is why most vendors pick one side and stay there.

So the honest answer is yes, but the list is short. Two groups of suppliers qualify. The first is the large automation houses that sell PLC platforms and also build CNC systems into their portfolio through long-running product lines or acquisitions. The second, and more common in tooling work, is the contract manufacturer that runs PLC-driven equipment internally to feed its CNC machines, and machines PLC and CNC parts for customers at the same time.

That second group is where most engineers actually end up. You are not shopping for a controls brand. You are looking for a shop that can cut the bracket, the plate and the housing, and also understand the fixture, the servo drop-out and the safety circuit that the parts have to fit into.

When you search for companies that have both, check what the claim means. Some mean they resell both. Some mean they use both internally. Some mean they design control panels and machine the enclosures. Each is a different supplier, and the drawings you send will be handled differently.

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  ResellerSells PLC hardware and CNC equipment as product lines. Little machining capacity.
• 2
  Machine builderBuilds the machine and the control cabinet. Strong on motion, weaker on custom parts.
• 3
  Contract manufacturerRuns both in production, machines parts for both sides. Best fit for custom components.

A PLC talks in ladder logic, function block diagrams and structured text under IEC 61131-3. A CNC talks in G-code, with tool offsets, feed rates and canned cycles. Nobody writes a single program that runs both. The overlap is not in the software. It is in the mechanical interface: sensor brackets, motor mounts, cable routing, guard panels and the fixtures that hold the part during both operations.

That interface is where projects slip. If the panel builder and the machine shop are separate vendors, the mounting hole pattern gets revised twice, the tolerance stack gets argued over by email, and the first article arrives before anyone has checked whether the proximity sensor still has clearance.

A supplier that runs both sides can check the CAD model against the actual mounting plate, the servo coupling and the encoder bracket. They know a Ø400 mm rotary table needs a flat mounting face that stays flat after heat treat. They know a 4,000 mm frame cannot be shimmed straight on the floor.

One more point. When the same shop machines the parts and understands the PLC logic that drives them, the DFM feedback is different. It comes with a reason tied to motion, not just a note that a wall is too thin.

It is not always the right call. If your PLC program is the hard part, buy the controls engineering from a systems integrator who does nothing else. A machining shop that also wires panels will not beat a specialist on a 12-axis coordinated motion project.

If your CNC parts are simple and high volume, a focused machine shop with better tooling economics will undercut a hybrid supplier on price and cycle time. The hybrid carries simulation and panel-build overhead that a pure job shop does not.

The split makes sense when the parts and the control logic are tightly coupled: custom fixtures, one-off automation cells, pilot lines, and any project where the mechanical interface is still moving. It makes less sense on a mature product where drawings are frozen and the volumes justify dedicated capacity.

A practical test: ask the supplier to quote both the machined parts and the fixture that holds them. If they can do the fixture, they understand the machine. If they only quote the part, they are a job shop with an automation brochure.

• 1
  Good fitCustom fixtures, pilot cells, prototype automation, low-to-mid volume.
• 2
  Weak fitFrozen drawings, very high volume, deep multi-axis motion programming.

GreatLight runs 127 high-precision CNC machines across three wholly-owned plants, with 16 simultaneous 5-axis machining centers, 12 four-axis mills, 27 three-axis machines and 16 mill-turn centers. Maximum processing size reaches 4,000 mm, and the rotary tables go to Ø400 mm. That range covers most fixture plates, mounts and housings that sit next to a PLC cabinet.

We hold ±0.005 mm (±0.0002 in) on tolerance and can hold Ra 0.2–0.8 μm on a fine finish when the drawing calls for it. Incoming material is checked, parts are monitored in process, and everything is inspected before it ships. Reports go out on request.

The plants are certified to ISO 9001:2015, IATF 16949:2016, ISO 13485:2016 and ISO 27001:2022, so the same shop can run automotive brackets, medical housings and general automation hardware without changing paperwork. A quotation and a free DFM analysis come back within 12 hours. Production can start within 24 hours, and parts ship in 3–5 days. There is no minimum order quantity, from one prototype to a 10,000+ run.

Materials we cut daily include 6061 and 7075 aluminium, 304 and 17-4PH stainless, 4140 and 4340 steel, C36000 brass, Ti-6Al-4V and PEEK. Finishes cover anodizing, plating, powder coating, black oxide and laser marking with a minimum character height of 1.5 mm.