Haas delivers 75,000th machine in under 20 years

Recipient of the milestone machine was German company MEPO Minoudis GmbH & Co. KG, a family-owned, second tier automotive components supplier based in Korb, in the south-western state of Baden-Württemberg. The company already has four other Haas vertical machining centres; the new VF-3SS high-speed machine will, like the others, be set to work machining parts destined for local companies Porsche, Bosch and Mercedes, plus a number of other prestigious domestic and overseas car builders. At a special hand-over ceremony to mark the occasion, Haas Automation general manager Bob Murray (second from left) travelled all the way from the company’s US head-office to meet the owners of MEPO and to personally thank them for their purchase. “Installation of the 75,000th machine is a very special occasion for Haas Automation,” said Mr Murray, “and we’re very pleased that it has been installed at MEPO, a successful and growing company with high-standards and demanding customers; they are very typical of the sort of companies we work with around the world.” Also present at the ceremony was Peter Hall, managing director of Haas Automation Europe and the man responsible for leading the company’s meteoric growth on the continent. “It’s fitting that the 75,000th Haas CNC machine tool should be installed in Europe,” Mr. Hall says. “Although obviously not Haas’ home market, it’s an incredibly important one for the future prosperity of the company. “To counter threats from low-cost countries, European manufacturers are under enormous pressure to increase productivity and keep costs and overheads low and under control. By providing simple, reliable and very productive CNC machines, Haas helps them to do just that.” More than two-thirds of the 75,000 machines delivered so far have been sold in the last seven years, in fact, with all delivered in under 20 years.