Abstract: The center comprises a conveyor, a motor-driven carriage equipped with a gripper to move a section (2) over the conveyor, along a numerical axis toward the fixed frame (7) of a machining station, and a vise (11).In accordance with the invention, the machining station includes only the following: two moving elements (16, 21) adapted to move along cross-axes, the first said element (16) being movable relative to the fixed frame (7) and the second (21) being movable relative to the first (16), said second moving element (21) carrying a swivelling spindle head (25) equipped with at least one tool (5).Also, the actuator (22) which controls the movement of each said element is a multipurpose actuator selectively controlled by the main numerical control program to execute either positioning-only commands, or feed-only commands, or combined commands, among others.