'''Numerical control''' or '''numerically controlled''' ('''NC''') [[machine tool]]s are machines that are automatically operated based on commands that are fedreceived intoby themtheir processing units. NC machines were first developed soon after [[World War II]] and made it possible for large quantities of the desired component to be very precisely and efficiently [[machining|machined]] in a repeated fashion. These early machines were often fed instructions punched onto [[paper tape]] or [[punch card]]s. In the [[1960s]], NC machines largely gave way to [[CNC]], or [[computer]] numerical control, machines.
