HMC is the abbreviation of horizontal machining center，a horizontal machining center has the same sort but the cutters are mounted on a horizontal spindle across the table. Many horizontal mills also feature a built-in rotary table that allows milling at various angles; this feature is called a universal table.

Horizontal machining center is most suitable for processing large box workpieces, mainly for hole system processing and plane processing of box workpieces. When the workpiece is clamped at one time, all surfaces except the mounting surface and the top surface can be machined. The rotary shaft is installed on the worktable, and the workpiece can be rotated to process all sides of the workpiece.