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The present invention provides a system and method for tool use management wherein a CNC machine retains information identifying the tools associated with the machine as well as their current locations (if any), and executes an algorithm for determining the source tools needed by a part program and

The present invention provides a system and method for tool use management wherein a CNC machine retains information identifying the tools associated with the machine as well as their current locations (if any), and executes an algorithm for determining the source tools needed by a part program and matching the source tools with the available tools.

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The invention claimed is: 1. A method of correlating tools associated with a cutting machine and tools specified by a program executed by the cutting machine to form a part, the method including the steps of: identifying source tools specified by the program; comparing each source tool with defined

The invention claimed is: 1. A method of correlating tools associated with a cutting machine and tools specified by a program executed by the cutting machine to form a part, the method including the steps of: identifying source tools specified by the program; comparing each source tool with defined tools associated with the cutting machine; designating matched tools, which are defined tools that match the source tools during the comparing step; and replacing source tool references in the program with references to corresponding matched tools. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the comparing step includes the step of comparing a tool type identifier of the source tool with tool type identifiers of the defined tools. 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the comparing step includes the step of comparing a physical characteristic of the source tool with a physical characteristic of each defined tool. 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the comparing step includes the step of computing a compatibility index value based on the physical characteristic comparison and comparing the compatibility index value to a threshold value. 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the comparing step includes the step of computing a compatibility index value by applying weighting factors to a plurality of comparisons of physical characteristics of a source tool with physical characteristics of a defined tool. 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the designating step includes the step of determining that the compatibility index value at least meets the threshold value. 7. The method of claim 3, wherein the designating step includes the step of determining that the physical characteristic of a defined tool matches the physical characteristic of the source tool. 8. The method of claim 7, wherein in the determining step, the physical characteristics match when they are within a specified tolerance of one another. 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the specified tolerance is an absolute value. 10. The method of claim 8, wherein the specified tolerance is a relative value. 11. The method of claim 1, further including the step of sorting matched tools. 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the sorting step includes using matched tool location as a sorting criterion. 13. The method of claim 11, wherein the sorting step includes using matched tool compatibility index value as a sorting criterion. 14. The method of claim 11, further including the step of determining a matched tool to correlate with a source tool based on an outcome of the sorting step. 15. The method of claim 1, wherein the replacing step includes the steps of identifying any references in the program to a first source tool and replacing all reference to the first source tool with references to a matched tool before replacing references to a second source tool with references to a matched tool. 16. The method of claim 1, wherein the replacing step includes the step of replacing tool use information associated with a source tool with tool use information associated with a matched tool. 17. The method of claim 16, including the step of identifying manually entered tool use information associated with the source tool. 18. The method of claim 1, wherein the comparing step includes the steps of comparing each source tool to defined tools corresponding to physical tools available for use by the cutting machine and comparing each source tool to defined tools that do not correspond to physical tools available for use by the cutting machine. 19. The method of claim 1, further including the step of displaying a message to an operator when no defined tools match the source tool. 20. The method of claim 1, wherein in the designating step, a defined tool matches a source tool only if a physical characteristic of the defined tool is identical to a physical characteristic of the source tool. 21. The method of claim 1, further including the steps of displaying a plurality of defined tools that do not match a source tool and enabling an operator to select a defined tool from the plurality of defined tools to designate as a matched tool. 22. The method of claim 1, wherein a defined tool is designated a matched tool only after determining that the defined tool had not previously been designated a matched tool. 23. The method of claim 1, further including the step of storing a source tool in a memory as a new defined tool associated with the cutting machine if the defined tools associated with the cutting machine do not match the source tool. 24. The method of claim 23, further including the step of removing the stored source tool from the memory upon removal of the program from the machine unless another program associated with the cutting machine includes a source tool that matches the stored source tool. 25. The method of claim 1, further including the step of loading the program into a memory associated with the cutting machine. 26. The method of claim 23, wherein the storing step is performed as to a particular source tool only after the step of determining that the particular source tool does not match any other source tool stored in the memory. 27. The method of claim 1, further including the step of accessing a database stored in a memory associated with the cutting machine to create a defined tool. 28. The method of claim 27, wherein the database contains workpiece material information, tool physical characteristics information, and tool use information. 29. The method of claim 1, further including the step of accessing a database stored in a memory associated with the cutting machine to create a source tool. 30. The method of claim 1, further including the step of accessing a map that associates tool references to physical locations of corresponding tools. 31. The method of claim 1, wherein the comparing step includes the steps of providing default matching criteria, enabling the operator to modify the default matching criteria, and comparing a source tool with a defined tool using operator-modified matching criteria. 32. The method of claim 31, wherein the enabling step includes the step of displaying a graphical user interface. 33. The method of claim 1, further including the step of adding a source tool to a memory associated with the cutting machine if the source tool does not match the defined tools. 34. The method of claim 1, wherein the designating step includes the steps of determining that none of the defined tools match a source tool, displaying a plurality of defined tools as options for correlating to the unmatched source tool, and enabling the operator to select a displayed defined tool as a matched tool. 35. The method of claim 1, further including the step of using a matched tool to perform a virtual operation. 36. A computer readable medium having computer-executable instructions for correlating tools associated with a machine tool system with tools specified by a program for use in forming a part, the computer executable instructions including: an algorithm for identifying source tools specified by the program; a tool matching algorithm for comparing each source tool with defined tools associated with the machine tool system, and designating as matched tools any defined tools that are acceptably similar to the source tools; and an algorithm for replacing source tool references in the program with references to corresponding matched tools. 37. An apparatus for machining a part using a plurality of tools associated with the apparatus as specified by source tools including in a program processed by the apparatus, the apparatus including: a spindle; an automatic tool changer configured to load tools onto the spindle; and a memory including a tool management algorithm for identifying source tools specified by the program, a tool matching algorithm for comparing each source tool with defined tools associated with the apparatus, and designating as matched tools any defined tools that are acceptably similar to the source tools, and an algorithm for replacing source tool references in the program with references to corresponding matched tools.