Happy New Year

It's been a pretty hectic year so far for Matsuura Machinery. As well as parent company Matsuura Japan celebrating its 75th anniversary, the Coalville-based UK operation has appointed a new managing director and bagged a number of high profile orders.  After 34 years service with Matsuura, previous managing director John Jones decided to retire and move onto pastures new. He was replaced at the beginning of 2010 by Roger Howkins – himself an experienced campaigner with 14 years service with the company spanning a number of roles from applications engineering to European management positions. Mr Howkins believes the experience gained from working in other roles stands him in good stead for success at the helm of Matsuura UK. “Essentially we're a sales and support company and at senior director level there's a wealth of practical engineering experience to draw upon,” he says. “I spent many years in customer facing roles learning the ropes and senior director Dave Edwards has a similar background with 24 years experience with Matsuura. “This ‘hands-on' approach is evident right through the company. We can empathise totally with the challenges our support engineers and customers face on a daily basis because we've been there and I think as a team, this enables us to provide an excellent service to our customers.” Multi-purpose premises In terms of its product portfolio, Matsuura manufactures a wide range of multi-axis horizontal and vertical machining centres that can be customised as required to suit specific applications and many of these can be seen in the flesh at the Coalville showroom. This isn't the whole story however because Matsuura has agency agreements in place with a number of global machine tool companies including Gruppo Parpas (gantry style machines, horizontal borers and travelling column, fixed bed machines), Muratec Murata (turning centres), Niigata (large horizontal machining centres) SNK (large, gantry style 5-axis); and a recent addition to the portfolio – Toshulin (large VTL and turning centres). On the tooling side, Matsuura endorses and markets products from Big Daishowa and Mizoguchi. Matsuura's Coalville facility isn't merely a shop window for its range of machining centres however. As well as being the European hub for Matsuura spare parts it also has its own temperature-controlled spindle rebuild and refurbishment centre with Class 1000 clean room capability serving Matsuura machines across Europe. The company guarantees that for any Matsuura machine running in Europe, there will be a spare spindle, in stock, at Coalville – including older models that are no longer manufactured – that can be shipped to the customer within 24 hours. A highly skilled engineering department is also able to retrofit and customise machines to suit customer requirements. This could be anything from fixturing, probes or pallet changers through to coolant systems, hydraulics, swarf management systems or bespoke guarding. Making inroads Matsuura's agency agreements are pretty longstanding and established, but the company is always receptive to new partnerships to gain access to new markets – the Gruppo Parpas agency for example was set-up during MACH 2008. Matsuura's latest partnership is with Toshulin – a prestigious, high quality vertical turning lathe manufacturer based in the Czech Republic. Product table diameters range from 800mm diameter to 5m and as with all agency agreements, Matsuura's applications and service engineers have undertaken intensive product training courses to become familiar with the products on offer. Along with its other principals, Toshulin representatives were on hand on the Matsuura stand at MACH this year. As Mr Howkins explains, this was a change of tactics for Matsuura when compared to previous years. “We decided at MACH 2010 to focus on our entire product range rather than purely Matsuura manufactured products,” he reveals. “It was a decision that paid off because the show produced a number of positive leads for us – many of which were from new customers in new markets. I think the emphasis this year was on visitor quality rather than quantity – there's a very good chance that some of the enquiries from MACH will develop into firm orders.” In the pipeline As a direct response to customer feedback, summer 2010 will see enhancements made to Matsuura's MAM 72 35V 5-axis, 32 pallet vertical machining centre. Mr Howkins is keen to emphasise that while no earth shattering changes have been made to the design of what is already a highly successful model, at no extra cost, customers will see a number of productivity enhancing ‘tweaks'. “We've basically made the machine faster,” he affirms. “A software upgrade has resulted in better drive response times and rapids have been increased from 40m/minute to 60m/mimute. In addition, we've improved the tool changer and pallet changer making those faster and more responsive.” But one totally new machine in the Matsuura camp is the MX-520 5-axis vertical machining centre due for release in August 2010. “This machine is something of a departure for Matsuura,” announces marketing executive Ian Michie. “It will be marketed as an entry level machine but built to the same manufacturing standards as our MAM range. Matsuura quality without the frills basically.”

Aimed at users looking to upgrade from 3-axis to 5-axis capability, the MX-520 has been designed with a ram-type structure, offering a compact and rigid machining platform. Two table sizes are available (300mm or 500mm diameter), travels are 630mm x 560mm x 510mm (X,Y,Z) and the headstock and trunnion configuration has been designed in such a way as to minimise the possibility of collision, whilst maximising tool access and reach. “The MX-520 will be a very successful model for Matsuura globally,” Mr Michie predicts. “We'll be running a series of open days here at Coalville following the launch in August, so customers will be able to see the machine in detail.” More than words A common buzzword used in manufacturing circles is ‘turnkey' and you'll find the word used extensively in all of Matsuura's literature and promotional material. As with most buzzwords however definition is as much about interpretation as it is anything else, but to Matsuura, the word ‘turnkey' has a very precise and unambiguous meaning. “For us it means, quite literally, taking total control of the customer's order,” Mr Howkins declares. “To ensure that our machines perform to the stated accuracy and precision we need to take control of the whole project and this can be anything from ensuring that the foundations where the machine is to be located are up to the job, through to fixturing, tooling and coolant. From a health and safety and functionality perspective, it's standard practice for us to carry out risk assessments and a site survey prior to an installation actually taking place.” The sweet smell of success It is perhaps not surprising that much of Matsuura's business is project work in demanding industries such as aerospace, power generation and automotive. 2010 has seen a number of prestigious contracts come to fruition. In April for example, Matsuura received its biggest order ever from a British aero engine manufacturer which encompassed a total of 17 machines from across the Matsuura, Niigata and SNK product portfolio. Total turnkey package value was an impressive £15 million. Spread over two years, the package consists of seven heavy-duty horizontals from Niigata, six 5-axis machines from SNK and four large vertical machines from Matsuura, plus varying levels of turnkey engineering and process development activities spread across the machine models with their respective and individually distinct production operations. With such a high profile project up for grabs, there must have been no shortage of competition, so how did Matsuura clinch the deal? “Well I believe it was largely down to the fact that we had done our homework,” Mr Howkins divulges. “We had previously installed five Niigata machines for this customer back in 2005 and when we learned that the company was looking to expand we had a pretty good idea of the project in hand so carried out some test cuts and trials at our plant in Germany. When it came to tendering for the order, we had a good head start over the competition.” It's a similar story with the company's latest order from SPS Aerostructures based in Mansfield. This comprises two 630 H.Plus horizontal machining centres and a Fastems flexible manufacturing system. Worth in excess of £2 million, the system has been modified to integrate a deburring process that was causing the customer problems operationally. “Our reputation as a solutions provider is helping us win these contracts,” Mr Howkins concludes. “SPS is an existing customer of some five years and we are delighted to have been of service again.” Matsuura
www.matsuura.co.uk