The Rigiva cam milling machines and attachments shown on this page were intended for the production of flat circular and drum cams used on machines to provide a series of exactly timed functions such as moving a lathe or milling machine slideway, engaging one or more cutting tools - or indeed any function where a repetitive movement was needed such as in the mass production of identical parts. For decades a common user of mechanical cams were "Swiss Auto" lathes such as that made by (among many others) Bechler.
Today the method is still used, though combined with CNC controls such as in the Davenport hybrid, five-spindle multi-function lathe screw machine.
Drum cams (grooves formed of the surface of a cylinder) are still used in the manual selection mechanism of speeds and feeds on lathes and milling machines and many car and motorcycle gearboxes employ drum cams to move the selector forks.