The manufacturing industry faces two significant challenges: declining added value due to industrial restructuring and an aging workforce stemming from demographic shifts. In the machining sector, leveraging big data from machine tools has become increasingly critical for enhancing productivity and implementing intelligent manufacturing systems. However, varying data formats and communication methods across different equipment hinder efficient integration, posing a major barrier to the digital transformation of manufacturing. This study develops an integrated server system to facilitate the digital transformation of the machining industry by enabling effective collection, storage, processing, and analysis of data from machine tools. The system features a standardized protocol-based interface for consistent data collection and control across heterogeneous CNC machine tools. By leveraging IEC 62541 OPC UA (Open Platform Communication Unified Architecture) and OPC 40501-1 UMATI (Universal Machine Technology Interface), it ensures interoperability with upper-level applications through standardized information models. The proposed approach addresses inefficiencies in vendor-dependent CNC data systems, providing consistent data management for diverse equipment. By enhancing real-time data handling and eliminating integration challenges, the system contributes to the digital transformation of the manufacturing sector and the creation of an efficient production environment.

The Human Machine Interface (HMI) is dependent on the Computerized Numerical Control (CNC). As a result, the HMI software is developed according to the interface method of each CNC in duplicate. Even though the same function of HMI software module is developed using the same data item, it must be implemented separately in different development environments. This is because each CNC has a different address system and provides unique data interface method. In this study, we proposed a unified interface system that can standardize and integrate data interface method to support the development of HMI software module applicable to machine tools adopting multi-vendors’ CNCs. To clearly define this work, we developed new parameters, methods, and address system based on the machine state model, composed of data elements of machine tool structure, process, and status, provides the same interface by capsulizing existing CNC interfaces. The proposed interface system is designed to provide an API (Application Programming Interface) in the form of a library. The implementation architecture is designed and details of the operating logic within the detailed components and interfaces are elaborated. The implementation and test results are illustrated to verify an application example of the proposed unified interface system.