Richard Smith, Yamazaki Mazak’s European group managing director, being interviewed by Joan Cummins from BBC Midlands Today at MACH 2024

Yamazaki Mazak’s investment in affordable, British-built machines with short lead times, combined with its commitment to developing ‘cutting edge’ technology, has resulted in record visitor numbers and new business leads at MACH 2024.

As the only UK machine tool company with a complete manufacturing process to build its machines under one roof, Worcester-based Mazak drew thousands of visitors to its stand. The company showcased eight machines in total, including three UK debuts and its latest software innovation, the Mazatrol DX.

The recent emphasis on the expanding range of entry-level machines created exceptionally strong interest from machine users looking for affordable new technology to expand their capabilities into five-axis work, vertical machining and high-performance turning.

In addition, Mazak’s latest laser processing machine, the Optiplex 3015 NEO 12kW complete with new Smooth Lx control proved popular with visitors looking for a efficient and powerful fibre laser solution.

Pictured right: Michelle Donelan MP, Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, who delivered a keynote speech at the show, visited the Mazak stand and spent time with its apprentices, who were supporting the Education and Development Zone

The further development of Mazak’s industry-leading NC Mazatrol Smooth control also generated much interest from customers in search of digital solutions to minimise costs and increase productivity.

Alan Mucklow, managing director UK, Ireland and national distributors at Yamazaki Mazak, believes Mazak’s message of British-built affordability is resonating strongly with machine users.

He said: “The real success of MACH 2024 demonstrates that UK manufacturers are ready and willing to invest in new technologies and that our own investment in R&D and in our European manufacturing plant, which has dramatically shortened lead times, has been money well spent.”

Mazak also brought its highly successful CV5-500 five-axis machining centre to the show and four years on from its launch, it continued to generate high levels of attention from visitors looking to make the move into five-axis machining. Additional UK-built machine tools which garnered significant interest included several models from its entry-level range of vertical machining centres, such as the highly affordable VCE-500 and the VCN-700 — a high-productivity machine which was exhibited with the optional 60,000rev/min Ultraspindle, which is fully integrated into the CNC and can be automatically loaded in-cycle from the automatic tool changer.

Customers also showed high levels of interest in the productivity benefits of unmanned running to expand production, with several robot-ready machines on display along with the Variaxis i-800 NEO equipped with a multi-pallet pool (MPP).

Also making their UK debuts were the HCN-4000 NEO, a new high-performance horizontal machining centre (HMC) with exceptional productivity, accuracy and environmental performance; and the Mazatrol DX, a new CNC that can further improve production with rapid and automatic quotations, automated part programming, virtual machine simulation, machine process analysis and optimisation. A free trial of Mazatrol DX has been made available to all existing Mazak customers to experience the productivity improvements on offer.

Pictured left: four years on from its launch, Mazak’s CV5-500 machining centre continues to generate significant interest from visitors looking to explore five-axis machining

As one of the largest Midlands-based manufacturers exhibiting at MACH, the Mazak stand was among the most popular, with the BBC, Global Radio and Michelle Donelan MP, Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology all visiting the stand during the show. Mazak apprentices were also on the stand and, in conjunction with the Manufacturing Technologies Association (MTA), local schools were helped with transportation costs to give students first-hand experience of manufacturing.

Mr Mucklow feels the breadth of the Mazak range of technologies and the wealth of experience their engineers bring enables the company to provide specific solutions for every machining challenge.

He said: “Whether you are near the start of your machining journey, looking to move into more complex work or are an established manufacturer, we now have a machine for every application and every price point.

“The quality of the visitors to our stand, many of whom had a very high intention to invest in new technology to upgrade their machining capabilities, resulted in one of our best-ever UK exhibition performances. MACH 2024 has proven that UK manufacturing is in good health.”