Every VL 3 is a vertical lathe with integrated loading and unloading system. A recirculating conveyor belt conveys the workpieces in their carrier prisms to the pick-up station located behind the machining area. This allows the operator of the vertical lathe to anytime remove finish-machined components and insert new raw-parts at the front of the machine. The NC conveyor belt does not need to be reset. When the machine is reset for another workpiece the transport-specific data is sent to the control system as part of the NC workpiece program.