This paper is concerned with the development and implementation of a flexible manufacturing protocol for automated machining. Of specific interest is the machining of prismatic parts in a flexible manufacturing cell. The flexible manufacturing protocol involves providing design input via a computer aided design environment, an expert system for establishing manufacturability of the design, an intelligent process planning module for optimal component machining, design data base in an IGES format, automatic generation of machining codes, finally, the downloading of machine data to the computer numerical control machine, where the manufacture of the designed part occurs.