Centerless grinding services are a machining operation in which an abrasive wheel grinds metal from a bar surfaces while a regulating wheel forces the bar against the grinding wheel. The term "centerless" indicates that the bar is not placed between any centering devices, but rather is supported by a blade (situated between the grinding wheel and regulating wheel) and a series of input and output rollers.

Services offered by providers of centerless grinding services include internal grinding, external grinding, assembly services, design assistance, just-in-time delivery, prototype services, short run services, high quantity production, CAD / CAM support, and reverse engineering. Internal grinding is the grinding of the inside of a part. External grinding is the grinding of the outside of a part. Assembly services include assembly of components. Design assistance includes assistance with concepts, manufacturing costs, manufacturing techniques and material considerations. Just-in-Time (JIT) manufacturing is the capability of manufacturing components in order to reduce need for inventory maintenance. Prototype services include the capacity to build low quantity representative parts for use for presentations and functional testing.

Centerless grinding services’ machine shops are businesses where fixed or permanent machinery or equipment is used in the custom removal of material to fabricate a finished part. Short run services provide low volume production. High quantity production services provide high volume production. A vendor with CAD / CAM support has the computer technology to receive solid model files electronically and use those files for part creation. The capability to reverse engineer a part includes working backwards. With a part in hand, vendor can duplicate part.