Yamazaki Mazak UK Ltd (www.mazakeu .com) will this year celebrate a decade of success for its European Technology Centre (ETC).

The ‘state of the art’ facility, which is located at its European Manufacturing Plant in Worcester, first opened its doors in 2009 and has welcomed more than 33,000 visitors since then.

The 2,900m² facility is home to a regularly changing line-up of CNC machine tools and laser processing machines from Mazak’s extensive portfolio.

Moreover, it is often the first place in the UK that customers can see the company’s new models, once they have been launched; as well as a 97-seat auditorium and demonstration area, the ETC includes Mazak’s ‘Solutions Gallery’, which displays a snapshot of finished components that have been processed on a Mazak machine tool or laser machine at some stage of their production process (all the parts on display were produced by Mazak customers).

Over the years, the ETC has played host to a number of Open Houses, notably following major European events such as EMO and EuroBLECH, thereby giving UK customers who were unable to attend the exhibitions a chance to see many of the models in action.

The ETC also hosts many educational visits from local schools and colleges.

Richard Smith, European group managing director, said: “The ETC is one of the biggest assets Mazak has here in the UK, and it has played a significant role in growing both our UK and European customer base over the last decade.

“We always take great pleasure in taking visitors — be they a seasoned Mazak customer or a primary-school pupil — around the ETC, and allowing them to witness a snapshot of our extensive product portfolio in live-cutting action.”