Mazak’s new UK-made VCN-700 vertical machining centre will be among the highlights on display at Discovery WeekWorcestershire-based
Yamazaki Mazak is set to host a week-long experiential Open House focusing on overcoming the biggest production challenges facing customers. Taking place from 6-9 December, Mazak’s
‘Discovery Week’ aims to help machine tool and laser processing users find solutions to a host of productivity-led challenges to improve efficiency and minimise downtime.
The event, which will be hosted throughout Mazak’s European Manufacturing Plant and Technology Centre in Worcester, will be supported by over 25 partners with expertise in tooling, tool management, swarf management, CAD/CAM and finance.
There will be more than 20 machines on display, including live cutting demonstrations on a range of five-axis, horizontal, vertical, CNC turning and laser processing machines, many of which will be equipped with third-party automation systems.
Among the technology highlights will be Mazak’s newest vertical machining centre, the VCN-700. Designed and manufactured in the UK, visitors will be able to see live production of the VCN-700 as part of the factory tours taking place during
Discovery Week.
Automation will be a running theme throughout the event, with no less than eight different part-loading solutions on display. Stand-out examples include the Variaxis i-300 complete with Auto Work Changer (AWC) and expandable high-capacity tool magazine for high-mix, low-volume applications; as well three UK-made CV5-500 compact five-axis machining centres, each with a different ancillary automation system.
Live cutting demonstrationsFor laser users, Mazak will be running live cutting demonstrations on its Optiplex 3015 Fiber III 10kW laser processing machine complete with Tekmag automated sheet metal loading system. Offering laser users ultra-high speed cutting of medium thickness material and the ability to cut the finest widths and most difficult reflective materials, the 10kW 3015 Fiber III variant can process workpieces up to 1,525 x 3,000mm. Mazak will also be using
Discovery Week to showcase its iConnect digital connectivity portal.
Mazak iConnect provides registered Mazak users with a bespoke access point for machine-specific information such as manuals, maintenance videos, parts order history and professional training resources. The portal also includes an ‘extended value’ Machine to Mazak service, which allows Mazak customers to connect machines to a secure Mazak Cloud service.
This can facilitate a number of productivity-enhancing benefits, including monitoring their machine operation online, backing up controls, using remote diagnosis to gain support from Mazak applications and service engineers and scheduling maintenance tasks.
Alan Mucklow, managing director UK, Eire and national distributors at Yamazaki Mazak, said: “
Discovery Week will hone in on the importance of collaboration to achieving innovation. Identifying and rectifying productivity-inhibiting factors is vital to boosting output. We hope that by bringing together experts from across industry — from tooling and tool management through to CADCAM and finance — visitors will be able to develop real-time solutions to ramp up productivity going into 2023.
“The event will also be the perfect platform to showcase the breadth and depth of Mazak’s machining portfolio, including several ground-breaking machine tools designed and built here in Worcester following first-hand feedback from sub-contractors around Europe. Many of our machines are now manufactured with automation in mind, and the fact that there will be eight different turnkey automated cells in operation throughout the week only reinforces the accessibility of technology now available to subcontractors.”
To register to attend
Discovery Week, please visit:
discover.mazakeu.com/discoveryweek