Looking for a CIMCO DNC-Max alternative?
CIMCO is good software. It's also a server-based suite licensed per port, which is more machinery than a 10-machine Fanuc shop needs. Here's the honest case for and against switching.
We'll say the obvious part first: CIMCO has been doing this since 1991, DNC-Max is mature, and thousands of shops run it happily. If you are one of them, this page is not trying to talk you out of it. It's for the shop that just got a quote for more ports, or inherited a DNC install nobody can support, and started searching for what else exists.
Where the two genuinely differ
- Shape: DNC-Max is a client–server suite — a server component plus client installs. ElectronIx DNC is one native service on one Windows PC, running headless from boot.
- Licensing: DNC-Max is typically quoted per port or per machine. ElectronIx DNC is flat per shop, covering ~25 machines, everything included.
- Scope: CIMCO sells a whole ecosystem — Edit, NC-Base, MDC-Max. We do one job: getting programs in and out of CNC controls, properly.
- Support: a Danish vendor through a reseller network, versus the engineers who wrote the code answering WhatsApp in your timezone.
- Setup: DNC-Max expects an IT-managed Windows box. Ours installs on the programming-room PC in an afternoon, over a screen-share.
Where CIMCO is still the right answer
If you already standardised on CIMCO Edit and NC-Base, DNC-Max's integration with them is real value you would be throwing away. If you need machine data collection through MDC-Max, or you're a multi-plant operation that wants one vendor and a worldwide reseller behind it, buy CIMCO. We'd rather tell you that than sell you a migration you regret.
Where shops move to us
- The per-port bill outgrew the floor — adding four machines shouldn't cost more than the original licence.
- The DNC server is a Windows box nobody maintains, and the person who set it up left.
- Support means a ticket and a reseller, when the machine is stopped and the shift ends at six.
- Only the transfer and drip-feed features were ever used; the rest of the suite sat idle.
What switching actually involves
- Your NC programs are plain text files — point the new install at the same folders and the library moves with you.
- Existing converters and serial wiring usually stay exactly as they are.
- Run both side by side: install the free trial on the same PC, prove one awkward machine, then move the rest.
- Machine settings — baud, parity, stop bits, I/O channel — are the control's parameters, not the software's, so they don't change at all.
If you want the numbers in one place, the full feature-by-feature comparison covers CIMCO, NCnet and Predator side by side, and what a quote costs explains the per-shop model.
Questions shops ask before switching
Is ElectronIx DNC a drop-in replacement for CIMCO DNC-Max?
For program transfer and drip-feed to Fanuc-style controls, yes — that's the same job, done from one PC instead of a server plus clients. It is not a replacement for the rest of the CIMCO suite: if you rely on CIMCO Edit for editing or NC-Base for program management, you'd be replacing one part of your setup, not all of it.
Can I keep my existing serial hardware?
Usually. If your machines already reach the PC through serial-to-Ethernet converters or multi-port serial cards, the same wiring carries over — the software talks to the converter, not to CIMCO's driver.
What about the programs already in my CIMCO setup?
Programs are plain NC text files on disk. Point ElectronIx DNC at the same folders and your library comes with you. Nothing is locked in a proprietary database on either side.
How is the licensing different?
DNC-Max is typically licensed per port or per machine, so the bill grows with the floor. ElectronIx DNC is one flat per-shop price covering roughly 25 machines from a single PC, with everything included.
Should I switch if CIMCO is working fine?
Honestly — probably not. Working DNC is worth leaving alone. The shops that switch are the ones facing a renewal or port-license expansion they don't want to pay for, or running an old install nobody local can support any more.
CIMCO, DNC-Max, CIMCO Edit, NC-Base and MDC-Max are trademarks of CIMCO A/S. This page is our own comparison, written from CIMCO's public product information — we're not affiliated with or endorsed by them.