UK-designed Mazak machine hailed success

Richard Austin, Yamazaki Mazak’s general manager - production, said: “Such has been the demand that we have already had to significantly increase manufacturing capacity for this machine at Worcester. This meant modifying an additional bay to increase the assembly area dedicated to this machine to ensure our capacity could meet demand.” The machine marked a milestone for the European design engineering department at Mazak’s European headquarters and manufacturing plant in Worcester. While the team had contributed to the design of other machine tools in the Mazak range, the VTC-800/30 SR was the first complete machine tool to be designed in the UK from concept to manufacture. The entire development process took place under one roof, enabling the 20-strong design team to work on full scale prototypes in the factory and also to work alongside production engineers through the transition to volume manufacturing. In line with Mazak’s global manufacturing philosophy the VTC-800/30 SR is capable of being built at any of Mazak’s Cyber Factories around the world. Following Mazak’s concept of global design, the UK-based Engineering team created a design that can be replicated at any of Mazak’s Cyber factories around the world. The design has already been approved for manufacture in Mazak’s plants located in the United States of America and Japan. “This is a great compliment to the skills that we have here in Worcester,” said Mr Austin. “To deliver a project like this and to see the success that it is having on a global scale is very encouraging.”