Technology centre is top of the tree

The official launch of Yamazaki Mazak's new European Technology Centre took place during November, with company President Tomohisa Yamazaki presiding over the event.

Located at the company's European Headquarters in Worcester, UK, the European Technology Centre hosted over 800 visitors as a new large machine tool display area was revealed, complemented by a ‘solutions gallery' and auditorium where customers will be able to learn about the latest innovations from the Japanese machine tool manufacturer. Following the launch the centre hosted an open house that ran until the beginning of December.

Occupying some 2,500m², the European Technology Centre (ETC) features an all glass frontage and environmentally friendly architectural design. The 1,320m² showroom is designed to display the complete range of Mazak machine tools together under one roof – from the smallest 2-axis lathe to the largest, most advanced Integrex e-Machines – as well as Mazak's range of laser cutting machines.

This includes the very latest machines as exhibited at the recent EMO Milan event, such as the Quick Turn Smart Series, designed for value and performance in 2- and 3-axis turning; the large capacity Megaturn Nexus 900, for rigid, high performance vertical turning; and the Slant Turn Nexus 550M, designed for heavy-duty machining of large diameter components.

Speaking at the ribbon cutting event, Mr Yamazaki announced: “It may seem strange to be investing in a facility like this at this time in the economic cycle. Certainly, there has been a dramatic change in the machine tool business in the last year. From October 2008, the order intake for the Japanese machine tool industry fell by 75-85% and Mazak was not immune from that.

“Of course these economic cycles are part of being in the machine tool business,” he continued. “Mazak has a 90 year history and we have faced such situations before. Having the strength to manage the downturns has always been a key part of our strategy and this has meant that even during this severe recession, we are still investing in new facilities to support our sales efforts, to improve our existing products, and to develop new products to maintain our leadership.

“To shorten the time from design to market, we have recently opened a brand new World Research and Development Centre at our headquarters in Japan. We anticipate that from the beginning of this year through to the end of next year, more than 50 new models will be introduced to the market and we will demonstrate those new products to our customers at Technology Centres such as this one.”

Mazak's UK sales director Tony Saunders added: “The response that we received during this opening event has exceeded our expectations, with more than 500 people from the UK and some 300 more from elsewhere in Europe visiting over the week. A further positive was the response we had in terms of enquiries and confirmation of a significant volume of business during the event. This is extremely encouraging as we look forward to 2010 with the recognition that customers are looking to invest in new technology and are keen to know how it can be applied to reduce manufacturing costs. Mazak is well placed to meet these requirements thanks to the investment we are making in customer support with facilities like the European Technology Centre.”

Mazak's European headquarters is also home to its 29,000m² manufacturing plant, where visitors had the opportunity to witness Nexus and Quick Turn Smart series machines in production. Proving it has confidence in its own products, components for these machines are all manufactured in-house on Mazak equipment – the most recent addition being a major investment in a new Versatech V-140N, the largest machine produced by the company.

Yamazaki Mazak
www.mazak.eu
 

Tags
Related Articles

Technology collaboration

The MTC in Coventry is exhibiting the Porsche 919 Hybrid racing car in its reception area until the start of the MACH show when it will move to the DMG Mori stand at the NEC in hall 5 on stand 5610.
8 years ago Features

Loads better

Mills CNC reports that it is increasingly being approached by manufacturers to help design and implement what, in many instances are innovative manufacturing turnkey and process improvement solutions.
8 years ago Features
Most recent Articles

Renishaw highlights career pathways in engineering

There is not one singular blueprint that can lead to a career in the engineering industry. It offers a variety of roles, open to people from diverse backgrounds. To highlight the diversity of skills and experiences in engineering, global engineering technologies company, Renishaw, has created the ‘Employee perspectives’ series.
1 day ago News

Login / Sign up