North American Headquarters

To diversify its business, Yamazaki Mazak Corporation entered the U.S. market in 1968, opening its first subsidiary outside of Japan in Long Island, New York. The company made the decision to move to Florence, Kentucky in 1974 after realizing it needed the capacity to be able to modify its Japanese imports to meet the unique requirements of the region.

Mazak chose the Blue Grass State for its new North American Headquarters because it is central to several major manufacturing companies, enabling the company to fully immerse itself in the market and tailor its machining technology to solve the unique challenges of its customers throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Over the past three decades, Mazak has continuously grown and advanced its North American Headquarters to meet the ever-evolving technology demands of its customers as well as provide them with the support they need to increase their productivity and competitiveness. In fact, the North American Headquarters started out as a 16,900 square-foot campus, and by the year 2014, it will encompass 800,000 square feet of space.

Three core business structures are the foundation of the North American Headquarters.

  • A North American Manufacturing Plant with a lean “Production-On-Demand” approach.
  • A National Technology Center that provides “Total Manufacturing Solutions.”
  • A North American Parts Center that reinforces “Total Customer Support.”

North American Manufacturing Plant

Mazak’s ISO 9001:2008-certified North American Manufacturing Plant in Kentucky produces more than 100 different types of CNC turning centers, Multi-Tasking machines and vertical machining centers, including those from the NEXUS and Vertical Traveling Column series.

Through customer feedback, Mazak is continuously improving upon these machines. And the company can quickly do so by applying a Production-On-Demand manufacturing approach where engineering changes can occur directly on the production floor. Because of Production-On-Demand, Mazak achieves the shortest possible lead times, maintains high-quality standards, improves efficiency and ensures that each new machine includes the absolute latest technology.

Production-On-Demand involves the modularization of the design and assembly processes. Each self-contained module has specific functions and is independent of other modules. Through modularization, Mazak can select common units for any machine specification, which keeps it from having to design a product from scratch. Continuous machining equipment and production system upgrades also play an important role in Production-On-Demand.

For instance, Mazak recently converted its entire North American Manufacturing Plant over to the MTConnect open communications protocol, and it was the first in the machine tool OEM industry to do so. The conversion made it possible for the company to monitor its manufacturing equipment and gather valuable data to further improve its operations and ensure its customers get the advanced technology they need as fast as possible.

Mazak is currently preparing for a 100,000-square-foot expansion of its manufacturing plant, which will be complete in the spring of 2014. With the additional space, the company will rearrange its production floor to include new equipment and systems that will further enhance the company’s efficiency as well as reduce production costs. At which point, the manufacturing plant will be able to produce up to 200 units per month, depending on product mix.

National Technology Center

Mazak started constructing a network of Technology Centers throughout North America in the early 1980s to further immerse itself in the market and develop long-term relationships with customers. In 1996, the National Technology Center in Kentucky opened its doors to eventually serve as the main hub for the seven regional Technology Centers that exist today.

Similar to the way in which it has grown and enhanced its manufacturing plant, Mazak is continuously investing in and improving its Technology Centers to further strengthen its service and support initiatives. To date, six of Mazak’s eight Technology Centers have undergone some form of relocation as a way to expand and effectively accommodate increased customer capacity.

The National Technology Center, which started out as a 33,000-square-foot facility, has undergone two major expansions since 1996 and now encompasses 100,000 square feet of space. The most recent expansion made room for customer training rooms, the National Service Department as well as the Customer Training and Documentation Departments. Today, the National Technology Center is a total solutions provider that serves customers and the company’s regional Technology Centers.

Through the National Technology Center and regional Technology Centers, Mazak is able to put application, service and parts support as well as programming classes and new machining demonstrations in close proximity to all of its customers – all things a manufacturer needs to gain the competitive advantage in an ever-evolving marketplace.

Technology Center Network

  • North American Headquarters and National Technology Center in Florence, Kentucky
  • Midwest Regional Headquarters and Technology Center in Schaumburg, Illinois
  • Southwest Regional Headquarters and Technology Center in Houston, Texas
  • Southeast Regional Headquarters and Technology Center in Suwanee, Georgia
  • Western Regional Headquarters and Technology Center in Gardena, California
  • Northeast Regional Headquarters and Technology Center in Windsor Locks, Connecticut
  • Mazak Canada Technology Centre in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada
  • Mazak Mexico Technology Center in Monterrey, Mexico

North American Parts Center

As more advanced Mazak products and technologies hit the market, the company increases its customer support levels, including a recent $1 million expansion of its North American Parts Center.

A key component in Mazak’s Optimum Plus total customer support program, the Parts Center now stocks over 52,000 unique part numbers, an inventory valued at more than $65 million, to support the company’s growing number of machine tools. Also, 97 percent of Mazak’s spare part orders ship within 24 hours to minimize a machine’s downtime.

Coinciding with the Parts Center expansion, Mazak relocated its Spindle Repair and Rebuild Department from the manufacturing plant to a new standalone facility on the North American Headquarters campus. This has allowed Mazak to further increase its capacity for incoming spindle work while also ensuring customers benefit from the shortest possible turnaround times.

Mazak’s substantial and continuous investment in spare parts fulfillment and spindle work ensures that it can keep its customers’ machines running smoothly and productively over a long service life.