A machine tool which is designed to carry out a specified sequence of work steps is provided. A tool and a processing time is assigned to each work step. A tool magazine is designed to keep a number of tools ready for the machine tool and includes a feeder for conveying tools from and to a transfer point for the machine tool. In a method for assigning tools to spaces of the tool magazine, a number of work steps are determined from the sequence, the respective processing time of each work step being shorter than a specified cycle time of the tool magazine. A work step is iteratively selected from the number of work steps; a previously used tool and a subsequently used tool are assigned spaces of the tool magazine; and the work step is removed from the number of work steps.

A numerical controller performs control for changing a tool mounted on a spindle to another tool stored in a tool magazine based on a machining program. The numerical controller analyzes a command by a block of the machining program, predicts a time required for machining by the analyzed command, and selects a tool changeable before a tool change command, during tool selection, based on the predicted time.

Provided is a method and device for computer-assisted optimization of the occupancy of magazine spaces by tools within at least one tool magazine for a machine tool, one or more workpieces of a workpiece type being manufactured with the aid of the tools provided by a magazine unit at a provisioning place. A step of the claimed steps of the method described in the description is the optimization of the occupancy of the magazine spaces by tools so that the total waiting time is minimized, wherein the total waiting time is composed of individual waiting times which result in each case from the difference between the detected provisioning period and the detected working step duration if the value of the difference is positive, otherwise the individual waiting time assumes the value zero.

A machine tool having a tool magazine for tools, which the machine tool can hold one at a time in order to machine a workpiece is provided. A method for controlling the machine tool includes steps of detecting workpieces to be machined and grouping detected workpieces into set-up families in such a way that a set-up associated with the set-up family is sufficient for machining the workpieces belonging to the set-up family. The set-up includes tools, which can be simultaneously loaded in the tool magazine, and the set-up families are formed in such a way that the number of tools that must be loaded in order to machine the detected workpieces is minimized as far as possible.

A numerical controller performs control for changing a tool mounted on a spindle to another tool stored in a tool magazine based on a machining program. The numerical controller analyzes a command by a block of the machining program, predicts a time required for machining by the analyzed command, and selects a tool changeable before a tool change command, during tool selection, based on the predicted time.

A machine tool having a tool magazine for tools, which the machine tool can hold one at a time in order to machine a workpiece is provided. A method for controlling the machine tool includes steps of detecting workpieces to be machined and grouping detected workpieces into set-up families in such a way that a set-up associated with the set-up family is sufficient for machining the workpieces belonging to the set-up family. The set-up includes tools, which can be simultaneously loaded in the tool magazine, and the set-up families are formed in such a way that the number of tools that must be loaded in order to machine the detected workpieces is minimized as far as possible.