In the era of Industry 4.0, the automation of processes in the life cycle of a product seems
to be a necessity. Although programming CNC machines with CAM systems make it possible,
it is necessary to effectively acquire knowledge about the programming process and
technological requirements for effective automation. The paper presents a method for decomposition
of knowledge about the CNC machine programming process based on acquiring
knowledge from various sources, both from technologists as well as on the basis of analysis
of archival CNC control programs. To decompose the programming process, it is proposed
to apply the knowledge model described by various attributes. Verification of the method
is shown in the process of knowledge decomposition for manufacturing special production
tooling.