The best of Japan - in the UK. Yamazaki Mazak UK Limited
Today, the Yamazaki Mazak Corporation is the world’s largest producer of computer-controlled metal cutting machine tools, with annual global sales of over US$2.5 billion. Established in 1919, the privately-owned company is headquartered near Nagoya in Japan, with manufacturing operations in Japan, the US, Singapore, China and the UK.
Mazak supplies machines to make everything from jewellery to jet engines. Its customers come from a wide range of industries and include manufacturers of sub-sea equipment for the oil industry, makers of moulds for contact lenses, customers supplying to the aerospace, automotive and construction industries, and manufacturers of machinery of all kinds.
“We have set up operations around the world to better serve our customers,” says Dr David Jack, Group Managing Director Europe for Yamazaki Mazak. “It would take a month for a machine to be shipped to Europe from Japan, and there would be costs of transportation and import duties. By setting up manufacturing facilities closer to our customers not only do we save both them and ourselves time and money, but we can also provide a much higher level of technical support, because the people who design and manufacture the machines are relatively local.”
European base
Having been the first Japanese machine tool company to set up a factory in the US in 1974, Europe was the next obvious target for Mazak. With a particularly strong base of suppliers to the machine tool industry, Europe has large pool of potential partners and customers for the company.
After considering Germany and Belgium, Mazak chose the UK for its European base. In 1981, the company established a sales force in Worcester, followed in 1987 by the opening of a new factory. Since then business has increased, and so has the size of the company’s premises. The original factory occupied some 16,000 square metres, but following major expansion projects in 1996 and 2007, it now covers 29,000 square metres, and has the capacity to make 160 machine tools a month.
“Our business in the UK has lived up to and even exceeded our expectations,” says Dr Jack. “The UK has a clear advantage for a global company over other European countries, namely the language. However, the UK also offers a favourable tax and employment regime. When the company first came here, it qualified for grant money through the Government’s Flexible Manufacturing Systems Scheme, which was an added incentive. And there was the skills base coming from a long tradition of machine tool manufacture.”
Recognition
Mazak’s contribution to the UK export industry has been recognised repeatedly over the years, including two Queens Awards in 1992 and 2007. The more recent Award in the International Trade category was based on export performance over the previous three years, during which 82 per cent of Mazak UK’s turnover related to export, with machines being delivered to 28 countries across Europe.
The company has also represented the UK several times, hosting a Russian inward mission at its plant in Worcester in 2005, and joining a Ministerial visit by Lord Digby Jones to the EMO show in Hannover in September 2007.
“Although our headquarters remain in Japan, we are proud of our UK export achievements,” says Dr Jack. “Central to our success in the UK is the facility that we have in Worcester, which is maintained as a ‘working showroom’ that plays host to over 1000 overseas customers and potential customers each year. We are happy to be seen as an example of the UK advanced engineering sector.”
