A system, method, and computer program product for creating a virtual numerical control (NC) controller for use in machine tool simulation. A method includes receiving a NC program readable by a physical machine tool, the NC program containing instructions for manipulating the physical machine tool. The method also includes parsing the instructions in the NC program. The method further includes receiving setup data, such as tools, reference coordinates systems, etc., from objects of a CAM system or in a setup data file. The method still further includes translating each instruction in the NC program into at least one virtual NC controller command. The method also includes executing the virtual NC controller commands in a machine tool simulation environment. In some embodiments, the method may include fetching data from a post-processor for the physical machine tool, where the fetched data is not available in the NC program.