Mazak
Canvas Category Machinery : Machining : Metal Removal
Since 1969, Mazak Corporation has played a central role in the American manufacturing industry, first on Long Island and, from 1974 on, right here at our headquarters in Florence, Kentucky, where our Mazak iSMART Factory models the world’s most advanced manufacturing techniques. For industries ranging from aerospace to medical and consumer electronics to construction, Mazak provides a wide range of machining solutions to suit job shops and major manufacturers alike.Our technological innovations include a comprehensive range of vertical and horizontal machining centers and turning centers as well as more advanced machine tools. With 5 Levels of Multi-Tasking that extend from turning machines with drum-style milling turrets to full simultaneous 5-Axis Multi-Tasking Machining Centers – as well as HYBRID Multi-Tasking machines featuring state-of-the-art additive and joining techniques paired with subtractive capabilities – manufacturers can achieve true DONE IN ONE part processing for the highest level of productivity.
Assembly Line
Mazak Joins the Cybersecurity Manufacturing Innovation Institute as Collaborative Partner
Continuing its leadership role in secure digital connectivity and Industry 4.0 manufacturing, Mazak has joined major cybersecurity research universities and enterprises throughout the country as a collaborative partner with the Cybersecurity Manufacturing Innovation Institute (CyManII).
Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, CyManII brings together the nation’s foremost manufacturers and research institutions along with the Oak Ridge, Sandia and Idaho national laboratories to drive innovation in digital infrastructure and security for advanced manufacturing, supply chains and workforce development.
Mazak’s advances in cybersecurity protection include its SmartBox technology, which secures machines connected to a network by isolating them from unwanted connections while retaining the ability to collect read-only data for Industry 4.0 manufacturing.
Briquetting Manufacturer Tools Up for Faster Turnaround Times
Briquettes are dense blocks created by compressing certain materials. For instance, charcoal and water softener salt are prepared as briquettes using charcoal dust and sodium chloride, respectively. These blocks can be compressed in cantilevered removable cutting rolls like those machined by K.R. Komarek, a Wood Dale, Illinois, company whose founder, Gustav Komarek, patented briquetting processes in the early 1900s to make coal less dusty and easier to transport.
With a wide variety of briquette designs, sizes and materials, machining these rolls is a demanding task for machine tools and, in particular, tooling. To overhaul a lengthy, hands-on process, Komarek paired a Mazak turn-mill machine with Ceratizit ISO-P-grade tooling to reduce production cycles and eliminate an arduous hand-grinding process.
Employees who formerly would have been tackling manual tasks on the briquetting roll production line can now work in Komarek’s reconditioning and repair department. These new processes also eliminated the potential for human error from hand-ground pockets, and by previewing milling paths through simulation features within Mastercam, Komarek is seeing less than a thousandth of an inch of variance in pockets. Tool life has also become much more predictable.
Flexxbotics Announces Robot Compatibility with Mazak Advanced Technology Solutions
Flexxbotics, delivering workcell digitalization for robot-driven manufacturing, today announced robot machine tending connectivity compatible with the full range of Mazak CNC machines and automation equipment. With Flexxbotics next generation machining environments using robotics with Mazak advanced technology solutions achieve greater throughput, higher yields and increased profit per part.
Robot compatibility is enabled by Flexxbotics for all different Mazak machine types including multi-tasking, hybrid multi-tasking, 5-axis, milling, turning, laser processing and automation. Flexxbotics is compatible with the full line of Mazak MAZATROL controllers including its next generation AI-powered SmoothAi, SmoothEz, SmoothX, SmoothG and SmoothC.
In addition to compatibility with Mazak MAZATROL controllers Flexxbotics is compatible with a wide range of open standard protocols including OPC/UA, MTConnect, Modbus-TCP, TCP/IP, Ethernet/IP, and DeviceNet along with FOCAS2/FOCAS, MELSEC, Profibus/Profinet and other proprietary controllers and interfacing protocols.
Industrial AI-Enabled Machine Tool Spindle Health Prognostics Has Been Transformed To Commercialized Value In Partnership With Mazak In Florence, KY.
In a significant collaboration with Mazak, based in Florence, KY, the AI-driven prognostics for machine tool spindle health developed at the Industrial AI center has transitioned from a research concept to a commercial asset. This partnership not only underscores the practical applications of the center’s research but also emphasizes the transformative potential of AI in the industrial domain.
Precision Manufacturing of Large and Complex Parts
Challenges of Automated Assembly
A product’s design determines its features, materials, performance, time to market and costs. Its quality, however, depends on the quality of the processes used to develop and make it. This doesn’t mean good designs only come from healthy design processes, but the odds of good results are surely higher if the processes are healthy.
So, how healthy are your product development processes?