Yamazaki Mazak has welcomed the success of its latest Open House, which saw the UK manufacturing community turn out in force to experience more than 20 machines in live-cutting action.
The event, which ran from 3-5 December, received over 500 visitors from more than 240 companies at Mazak’s European Manufacturing Plant and Technology Centre in Worcester.
Themed around ‘Team Mazak’, the Open House focused on the organisation’s core values of customer centricity and close collaboration to drive productivity.
Given the ongoing skills shortfall facing manufacturers, the four turnkey automation systems on display proved among the most popular attractions for visitors. Garnering particular interest were the best-selling UK-made CV5-500 5-axis machining centre and the new VCN-600 high-performance vertical machining centre, both of which were equipped with an MA robot with a versatile stocker unit for low-medium batches.
Mazak’s current apprentice cohort, recently recognised with a series of awards, played a crucial role in prioritising customer experience throughout the three-day event. They led guided tours of Mazak’s production facility and provided hands-on support during the Tech Tours, ensuring customers could fully engage with the event’s key highlights.
Among these was the unveiling of the new HQR-200/3 NEO, showcased to UK machine users for the very first time. Equipped with three turrets and two spindles to deliver increased productivity with high environmental performance, it was one of four NEO machines on display alongside the HCN-5000 NEO horizontal machining centre, the VARIAXIS i-700 NEO 5-axis Multi-Tasking machine and the OPTIPLEX 3015 NEO laser processing machine.
Also making its UK exhibition debut was the INTEGREX i-350H ST AG, which demonstrated specialist gear machining tasks including gear skiving, hobbing and milling.
While Mazak’s portfolio of machine tools and laser processing machines took centre stage, its suite of support technology also generated significant interest. This included the company’s Mazatrol DX and the Mazak iCONNECT service which can help customers improve productivity through faster quote to machining time, continual remote monitoring, easy maintenance and fast support.
The event also provided visitors with a first opportunity to explore Mazak’s new Sheet Metal Department within its production facility. It features two new 6 kW OPTIPLEX 3015 NEO 2D Fiber laser machines used to cut cladding for machine housings, tended by a double tower automation system to feed the sheet metal and a robotised Mazak Smart Manufacturing Cell for parts sorting.
Other highlights included ex-apprentice and current Mazak Technical Support Engineer Jas Cordelle showcasing her 2024 season drag racing bike in the main foyer. Customers were able to speak to Jas about her successful racing season, which saw her reach speeds in excess of 175mph and take home her first win in the 850 class at the Santa Pod Raceway.
Finally, for a small charitable donation, customers were able to practice and improve their golf swing on a golf simulator with a short one-to-one session with a golf teacher. The competitive spirit was strong with the longest drive achieving 301.7 yards. Over £1000 was raised for the Sheffield Children’s Hospital Snowflake Appeal.
Alan Mucklow, Managing Director UK, Eire and National Distributors at Yamazaki Mazak, said: “The ‘Team Mazak’ Open House was among our most popular to date. We recorded strong enquires for our UK-made machines, while there was a clear demand for automation solutions to help UK manufacturers remain competitive in what is a challenging operating environment.
“Ultimately, collaboration is key to unlocking better productivity. The event proved to be an excellent forum for discussing tangible solutions to the challenges UK machine users are facing, which we believe we are well placed to help overcome in 2025 and beyond. Once again, I would like to thank everyone who attended for finding the time to visit in what is traditionally a very busy period.”
For more information, please visit: https://www.mazakeu.co.uk.
