Business Booming: Mazak Expands One Technology Center and Opens New One

Increasing machine tool business in the Midwest leads to one plant expansion complimenting another new facility with increased capabilities, enhanced support for energy sector.

Mazak Corporation (Florence, KY) hosted a Grand Opening ribbon-cutting ceremony and Open House celebration on June 14-16 to inaugurate its new Southwest Technology Center in Houston, TX and emphasize technology for the energy sector. The new Southwest Technology Center is located on 4.5 acres owned by Mazak at the intersection of Beltway 8 and Green Crossing Boulevard. The new facility marks the third and largest expansion of this facility, which was originally founded in 1978, then expanded in 1982.

This expansion compliments the continued upswing in business in the Midwest for Mazak that spurred the April expansion of its Midwest Headquarters and Technology Center in Schaumburg, IL. That expansion represents a continuous investment in American manufacturing and coincides with the production expansion at its manufacturing campus in Florence, all to meet customer demand.

“The vibrant manufacturing market and our long-term commitment to customers in the Midwest convinced us to accelerate our expansion plans of our Technology Center in Illinois,” said Brian Papke, the president of Mazak. “In line with our new Southwest Headquarters and Technology Center in Houston and a new $9 million investment in our Kentucky plant, our goal is to continuously serve our customers with solutions for improved manufacturing productivity to competitiveness of North American manufacturing.”

The expanded Schaumburg facility features a new auditorium space, more room for seminars, and a spacious area for customer turnkey projects and test cuts, as well as expanded machine tool technology demonstration facilities. The new Southwest Technology Center in Houston offers support to manufacturers in all industries, with a special focus on those serving the energy sector. For these growing local area industries, Mazak, unlike any other machine tool builder, has continually expanded in the Southwest to meet the needs of and partner with customers and provide the best possible turnkey manufacturing solutions.

“Even during the economic downturn, we continued to invest in our Regional Technology Centers and in our manufacturing facility in Florence,” noted Papke. “For the Kentucky plant, we have invested $13 million in expanding its capabilities through additional floor space and technology upgrades. Similar investment will continue this year, with the installation of another VERSATECH V-140N 5-axis double-column machining center for large part production, along with a Mazak Optonics cell with three laser fabrication centers to improve productivity of sheet metal parts.”

The new 30,000 sq ft Southwest Technology Center is designed with customer needs in mind. There’s more room for customer training and technology seminars, as well as for cutting demonstrations of larger model machine tools geared to the area’s specific manufacturing requirements. The facility’s focus is on developing process-oriented solutions to increase productivity for customers in the Southwest. It has ample space for service and applications support for these larger machines and for a wide range of larger Integrex multi-tasking machines, from simple turning machines with milling to highly sophisticated 5-axis machines with multiple spindles and turrets.

The Houston facility also houses a large, 100-seat learning and conference area for meetings, regional seminars and training events that are presented by both Mazak and VIP suppliers in the industry. With increased complexity of customer parts and corresponding sophistication of machines, the importance of training and support is enhanced by this new facility in the area. It will continue to serve as a regional service hub, with 20 field service engineers based out of the facility, along with 5 phone support engineers, several of whom are bilingual to meet the diverse language needs of the region.

The Open House featured various new machines, cutting tools and accessory technologies designed to improve productivity, such as advanced turning capabilities, of the region’s manufacturers. There were special presentations on a variety of topics, including the Five Levels of Multi-Tasking. For advanced large part and valve turning, the Open House featured an ORBITEC-20 manufacturing system. Additional equipment demonstrated included medium and large size multi-tasking machine models, covering both horizontal and vertical spindle orientations, from the Integrex i-Series, Integrex e-Series, Integrex IV-Series and new Integrex j-Series.

For two- and three-axis Turning Center technology, the Open House showed visitors actual part cutting solutions on machine models that provide turning and milling and Y-axis capabilities. These include machines from the Quick Turn Nexus Series, as well as from the Slant Turn Nexus Series, Quick Turn Smart Series and Megaturn Nexus Series.

Fueled by the economic recovery, Mazak has experienced a steady increase in demand since the 2010 IMTS Show in Chicago. The company projects monthly output of its Florence plant to reach 130 machine tools per month by the close of this month and then growing throughout the remainder of this year.

In terms of dollar value, this represents the largest output ever produced at the Kentucky plant, due largely to market demand shifting the production mix to favor larger and more complex multi-tasking models of machines. “Over the past two years, we have continued to invest heavily in the ongoing productivity of our U.S. production facility, even despite the poor economic conditions of 2009,” added Papke. “We have further refined and improved our Production on Demand system to become extremely responsive to real time customer needs. Additionally, a high level of vertical integration allows us tremendous control in reacting to market conditions.”

Papke explained, “With the present value of the dollar, we will be exporting more machines in future months from our Florence plant, in addition to building for domestic manufacturers.” The company produces over 100 models of machines tools at its Florence plant. During the economic downturn, Mazak invested $13 million in expanding that facility’s capabilities through additional floor space and technology upgrades.

www.mazak.com