PMPA Technical Member ZPS America Finds Success in Delivering Cost-Effective Solutions and Leading Customer Service

In 2000, the Tajmac Group acquired ZPS, a Czech Republic-based company known for being the only machine tool builder in Europe with a foundry to produce its own castings.

After forming ZPS America LLC in 2008, the company is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, and is the only remaining multi-spindle screw machine manufacturer that produces both newly designed CAM and CNC multi-spindle machines in mass production. Today, the Tajmac-ZPS Group employs more than 2,200 people, has more than 450 installations across North America and is the biggest manufacturer of multi-spindle bar machines.

“Producing both CAM and CNC multi-spindle machines allows us to offer customers the best possible and most cost-effective solution possible,” says Olaf Tessarzyk, president and CEO at ZPS America. “We allow customers to pick from the best of both worlds when it comes to multi-spindle machines, which gives them more flexibility and variety.”

ZPS America’s machines mostly produce parts for the automotive and aerospace industries, but the company has also manufactured machines for medical, fittings and fluidics, and powertrain applications. The company also sells rebuilt machines, which are refurbished through a rigorous process in which each machine is torn down to its casting, cleaned, repainted and brought back to the specifications of a new machine. It even offers complete factory warranties for rebuilt machines.

With a range of options, ZPS America’s product line of CAM six- and eight-spindle bar machines run anywhere between 0.787 inches (20 mm) and 2¾ inches in diameter. For CNC machines, its product line includes anything from six-spindle bar machines with diameters of ¾ inches, to eight-spindle bar machines with diameters of 3 inches.

Perhaps ZPS America’s most impressive addition to its product line is the industry’s first-ever five-axis CNC multi-spindle machine. Mr. Tessarzyk says the machine has had a tremendous following since it was introduced at last year’s IMTS and this year’s PMTS.

“The introduction of this machine was a game changer for the whole screw machine industry, because no one had catered to the market in this way,” Mr. Tessarzyk says. “ZPS has always looked for the most economical solution, and customers like this machine because it is as fast and cost-effective as a CAM machine with the precision and flexibility of a CNC multi-spindle machine and has FANUC controls.”

Another significant competitive advantage for ZPS America is its customer service, which comes from having a team of service engineers on staff at all times who know the machines on the shop floor inside and out. Mr. Tessarzyk says the engineers’ years of expertise on these machines help when it comes to training new employees on how to rebuild and repair the company’s products.

While Mr. Tessarzyk had been affiliated with the organization long before joining ZPS America, the company became a PMPA technical member in 2008. Mr. Tessarzyk believes the openness and friendly competition between members at meetings and on the listserves make the organization so beneficial for learning about trends in the industry. The company also relies on PMPA’s market forecasts as a way of staying on top of the market developments of its customers.

“Unlike other organizations I’ve worked with that were much more secretive, the learning experience you get from PMPA is tremendously different,” Mr. Tessarzyk says. “This is because everyone is willing to share their experiences, even when they could be talking to a competitor. With tools like the listserves, when one member has a question, there’s almost always a member who either has an answer or can guide the member to someone who has an answer.”