Yamazaki Mazak to more than double European spare parts warehouse size to better support customers

The European Parts Centre expansion forms part of Mazak's 10-year plan for growth in its European businesses, which has also included recent investment in new Technology Centres, located in Prague, Katowice, Düsseldorf and Leipzig. The new facilities are part of a two-phase expansion of the Leuven site, with ground-breaking on the first phase taking place in early August 2013 and a completion date set for 2014. A second phase is scheduled for 2022, to meet projected demand for parts in the European market. The European Parts Centre currently ships 97% of parts within 24 hours on orders received before 20:00 Central European Time, and the facility ships parts for customers 365 days per year. There are typically €32.5 million of parts in stock and 35,000 part numbers. In a typical month, 11,000 parts are shipped to 30 countries across Europe. The inventory includes many parts for older Mazak machine models, including those for Mazatrol controls dating back to 1981. The expansion is the latest investment by Mazak in its European operations, which has included the opening of five new technology centres in the last four years, bringing the total to 13 technology centres across Europe. Marcus Burton, European managing director for Yamazaki Mazak, said: "Mazak now has more than 50,000 machine tools in operation in the European market and much of our success can be traced to the industry-leading levels of support we offer our customers. Our European Parts Centre lies at the heart of our customer support strategy, aiming to provide the highest levels of service throughout the lifecycle of a machine, from initial purchase through to on-going spares support for older machines that are still in service and productive. "This expansion will bring the European Parts Centre up to the standard set by our World Parts Centre in Minokamo, Japan. With its central location, the expansion of the Leuven facility will ensure that we can hold more parts, which will increase our speed of delivery. Crucially, we also have the ability to further extend the Leuven facility to meet demand from customers in the European market." The current expansion will increase warehouse capacity from 2,700 m² to 5,528 m². It will be fully automated and equipped with a new 'mini-load' system for small parts picking from 8,140 small trays and a stacker crane for 3,000 medium to large pallets. The new 1,000m² logistical working area will house an automated conveyor belt system and four intelligent work stations. There will also be increased ground floor storage capacity for very large parts. The expanded European Parts Centre will also be equipped with a high-end parts ordering system, which includes online ordering received from each Mazak European office; real time stock visibility for dealers; and linked website tracking for shipment status checking. In addition, the Leuven facility will have access to stock from Mazak worldwide, including the World Parts Centre in Minokamo, Japan.