Mazak Quick Turn Nexus passes 14,000 installations

The company reports that this has opened up many new markets, and introduced a new generation of customers to the capabilities of Mazak products. Demand for the more sophisticated turning centre variants such as the Quick Turn Nexus 350-II M and MY models (12-inch or 15-inch chuck) has been driven by the particularly advanced manufacturing techniques employed by its UK and European customers, compared with other regions. As a result, these models have sold in large numbers, with more than 450 of them having been produced here in the UK alone. Over 85 per cent of these machines have been exported to Europe, with the remainder having been sold to a variety of customers in the UK, serving industries as diverse as oil and gas, aerospace and power generation. "This shift to more versatile machine tools has been quite rapid," said Tony Saunders, Yamazaki Mazak's UK sales director. "Only a few years ago, this type of machine accounted for just 23 per cent of lathe output from Worcester; it is now 73 per cent, with the bulk of production destined to satisfy the requirements of the UK, European and Middle Eastern markets." The most recent development has been to enhance the entire range of Quick Turn Nexus lathes with new, heavy duty driven toolholders, with through-tool coolant as an option. These holders support more aggressive milling operations, enabling faster machining with the added benefit of even longer tool life.