Mazak Expands Midwest Technology Center to Support Manufacturing Growth

Florence, Kentucky, April 2, 2012 - As part of its ongoing commitment to American manufacturing, Mazak will host a special three-day Discover More with Mazak open house at its Midwest Technology Center in Schaumburg, Ill. Slated for June 26 - 28, the event will highlight the facility's recent 18,000-square-foot expansion, powerful cutting demonstrations on the latest productivity-improving machine tools and industry expert presentations. Mazak will also offer a sneak peek of its plans for IMTS 2012 and the expansion of its Kentucky manufacturing operations.

The Midwest Technology Center expansion allows Mazak to further support the continuous upswing of manufacturing business throughout the region as well as provide its customers with even more advanced technology, support and training for increasing their competitiveness. The expansion also offers an increased opportunity for collaboration with local manufacturers with respect to new technology and process development and improvement.

“The vibrant manufacturing market and our long-term commitment to our customers in the Midwest convinced us to accelerate our expansion plans for our Technology Center in Illinois,” said Brian Papke, president of Mazak Corporation. “Business across all industry segments, including automotive, aerospace, medical and energy, is improving in the Midwest and nationwide. The expansion of our Midwest Headquarters and Technology Center gives manufacturers more resources to improve their productivity.”

The Midwest Technology Center's new 124-seat auditorium and two state-of-the-art training rooms give Mazak the means to host more events with its VIP technology partners. In fact, an incredibly diverse array of no-charge classes and seminars will ensure customers achieve a maximum return on their machine tool investments and achieve greater effectiveness in meeting their customers' needs.

Visitors to the expanded Midwest Technology Center will also find spacious areas for turnkey projects and test cuts, as well as expanded machine tool technology demonstration facilities. Such additions give Mazak customers even more opportunity to process actual industry components from various materials, including polymers, steels, aluminum and high temperature alloys, using the latest machine tool technology.

The Midwest Headquarters and Technology Center is one of eight regional Mazak Technology Centers across North America that enables Mazak to work closely with its customers to generate the most innovative ideas for increasing productivity, efficiency and equipment utilization.

Open House Details

Mazak will give its customers a firsthand look at the Midwest Technology Center expansion, real-world application cutting demonstrations, interactive industry expert presentations and a preview of the company's IMTS plans during a special open house event at the Schaumburg, Ill. facility, taking place June 26 - 28 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Open house attendees will discover advanced technology in action on nearly 20 different productivity-improving Mazak machine tools, ranging from world-renowned vertical machining centers to Done-In-One Multi-Tasking systems. Such machines include the VERTICAL CENTER NEXUS COMPACT, a machining center built for precision medical manufacturing, VARIAXIS i-700, a Multi-Tasking machine that efficiently processes long workpieces in single setups, and the QUICK TURN NEXUS 250 MSY, a turning center that includes a second spindle and offers turning, milling and Y-axis capabilities in a single setup.

The industry expert presentations at the open house will cover topics such as ways to bring manufacturing work back to the United States, the benefits of automation, the economics of spindle utilization and much more.

As part of the IMTS preview, open house guests will discover that Mazak is bringing more to Chicago's McCormick Place than ever before. In fact, the company is introducing an all-new IMTS booth (S-8300) that has everything a manufacturer needs to run a highly productive, quality-driven business, whether they operate a job shop or manufacture specifically for the aerospace, automotive, energy or medical industries. The company will also introduce a new 3-4-5 concept for better tailoring Mazak machines to specific manufacturing applications.

Registration for the Midwest Technology Center open house in June will begin soon at www.mazakusa.com/moremidwest. Mazak will also provide customers with IMTS updates via MoreWithMazak.com, Facebook at www.facebook.com/MazakCorp and Twitter at @MazakCorp.

About Mazak Optonics Corporation

Mazak Optonics Corporation is a major supplier of laser-cutting systems, offering 50 laser models and leading the industry in the implementation of emerging laser technologies. The company’s 50,000 sq. ft. North American Headquarters are located in Elgin, Illinois, and feature a 30,000 sq. ft. laser technology center housing up to 18 machines for demonstrations and training. Mazak Optonics is part of Yamazaki Mazak Corporation (Oguchi, Japan), the global leader for the manufacture of machine tools and systems for the precision machining of metal parts, including CNC turning centers, horizontal and vertical machining centers, Multi-Tasking machining centers, turnkey cells and software solutions. The North American Headquarters for Yamazaki Mazak are located in Florence, Kentucky. For more information on Mazak Optonics’ products and solutions, visit www.mazakoptonics.com, email sales@mazaklaser.com or call 847.252.4500.