An octree-based (numerical control) NC simulation (Oct-OAC) system developed for end milling has two major applications: (1) NC verification and (2) optimization of the cutting parameters, viz., spindle speed, N (s−1), and feed rate, f (ms−1). Oct-OAC has a geometric modeling module to simulate the geometry of material removal process. Every object in the machining environment such as cutter, instantaneous workpiece, swept volume, etc. is stored as octree, an inexact representation of solid. Using this module, one can predict the geometry of the material removed at any instant of time and update the geometry of the blank subsequently. Optimization of cutting parameters using Oct-OAC is achieved through optimization module using a mechanistic model for computation and prediction of the cutting forces at any instant. The basic input for this module is the geometry of the contact surface between the cutter and workpiece which comes from the geometric modeling module using an octree-based solid modeler. It is through this contact surface that the cutting forces are passed from the workpiece onto the cutter and vice versa. The mechanistic modeling module can predict the instantaneous cutting forces from the instantaneous contact geometry and other process parameters like material combination of cutter–workpiece, parameters defining cutter geometry, and current cutting parameters such as N and f. Using this prediction, it will modify the cutting parameters for maximizing the material removal rate. This way, the mechanistic modeling module does what an adaptive controller will do with the help of force sensing. Therefore, the NC program optimization done using the Oct-OAC system is actually off-line adaptive control.