Mazak Hosts VMA’s Annual Workshop and Tour

From April 30 to May 2, 2014, Mazak Corporation will host a portion of the Valve Manufacturers Association’s (VMA) annual “Manufacturers Workshop and Tour” at its North American headquarters in Florence, Ky. The event is open to VMA members and will include a tour of Mazak’s manufacturing campus as well as workshops on supply chain management, MTConnect, problem solving and lean manufacturing.

Mazak will demonstrate how it contributes to productive and profitable valve production by giving VMA members a behind-the-scenes look at its recently expanded North American Production-On-Demand manufacturing plant as well as its national technology center and Center for Multi-Tasking Excellence. Together, these two facilities produce and support advanced multi-tasking, 5-axis, turning, milling and automation solutions for industries that rely on high-quality valves, including oil and gas exploration, power generation, chemical processing and commercial construction.

Recently, Mazak completed a 100,000-square-foot expansion of its manufacturing plant so that the company can continue to effectively support the ever-evolving technology demands of its customers and their unique application requirements. As a result of the expansion, Mazak can now produce up to 200 machine tool units per month, depending on product mix. 

Inside Mazak’s 100,813-square-foot National Technology Center and Center for Multi-Tasking Excellence, which also went through a recent expansion, VMA members will experience several machine tools and automation systems in action, including solutions designed for high-quality valve production. The facility is the main hub for Mazak’s network of regional technology centers in North America, providing manufacturers with applications, service and part support, programming classes and more.

Following the Mazak manufacturing campus tour, VMA members will participate in workshops led by Mazak application experts on effective supply chain management and improving factory utilization via MTConnect, an open-source, royalty-free manufacturing protocol that easily connects devices and systems from different suppliers to capture and share information in a common format. 

VMA members can register for the event here. To learn how to become a VMA member and attend the “Manufacturers Workshop and Tour” at Mazak, please visit www.VMA.org or contact Malena Malone-Blevins, VMA meetings manager, at mmaloneblevins@vma.org or 202.331.8105 x310.

Founded in 1938, the Washington, DC-based Valve Manufacturers Association of America exclusively represents nearly 100 North American manufacturers of valves, actuators and controls, which account for about 80 percent of total industrial valve shipments out of U.S. and Canadian facilities.