THIS PAPER PRESENTS THE MOST RECENT ADVANCES IN TECHNIQUES FOR HIGH-PRECISION TUBE BENDING AND INSPECTION. THE DESIGN REQUIREMENTS FOR THE POSITIONING AXES OF AN AIRCRAFT-QUALITY CNC TUBE BENDER ARE REVIEWED. OTHER FACTORS AFFECTING THE BENDING PROCESS ARE DISCUSSED, INCLUDING AUTOMATIC TOOLING SETUP. IN ADDITION TO ELIMINATING THE VARIABLES INTRODUCED BY AN OPERATOR, AN AUTOMATED SETUP PROVIDES FASTER CHANGEOVER TO INCREASE THE EFFICIENCY OF SMALL QUANTITY RUNS. THE PAPER ALSO REVIEWS THE ADVANTAGES OF USING PC CONTROLS TO OPERATE BENDING MACHINES. THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS IN VECTOR MEASURING MACHINES HAS IMPROVED INSPECTION ACCURACY, AN ORDER OF MAGNITUDE. THIS IS ACHIEVED THROUGH THE USE OF RIGID JOINTS, PRECISION SPINDLE BEARINGS, ULTRA-HIGH RESOLUTION ENCODERS, TEMPERATURE COMPENSATION, LASER NONCONTACT PROBES, AND STATISTICAL AVERAGING SCANNING TECHNIQUES. A REVIEW IS PRESENTED OF