This paper presents the concept and prototype of a computer aided engineering (CAE) system that can be used to Solve different task of electrochemical machining (ECM), such as: tool-electrode design, selection of optimal machining variant and input machining parameters optimization. The system uses computer simulation software that was developed for various kinds of ECM operations like: electrochemical (EC) sinking, EC milling, EC smoothing, ECM-CNC with a universal electrode and numerically controlled electrode movement, etc. The results of computer simulation of different ECM processes and results of experimental verifications are also presented in the paper. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.