CNC Machine Tools News

Celebrating Mazak's 100th Anniversary

For 100 years, Yamazaki Mazak has developed a wide range of machine tools and harnessed the power of innovation. Mazak will continue to create more value for customers and machine tool users, adding to a brighter future for the manufacturing industry.

Mazak History
1919
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Yamazaki Machinery founded by Sadakichi Yamazaki. (Nagoya)

Began the manufacturing of straw mat weaving machinery.

1923
Established a new factory in Atsuta, Nagoya
1927
Sep - Began the manufacturing of machine tools including lathes and milling machines
1928

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Developed the first commercial machine tool

1934
Developed the first motor-drive roll lathe
1939
Established Yamazaki Machinery sales department
1946
May - Teruyuki Yamazaki joined company
1959
Began manufacturing of high-speed, high-precision lathes (LA,LB,LC and LD series) 
1961 
May - Expanded to overseas market. Exported 3 LD series to Indonesia,
Oct - Oguchi plant began operation
Nov - Joined Japan Machine Tool Builders' Association
1962
Jun - First export to U.S.A., 200 LE series lathes
Sep - President Sadakichi Yamazaki passed away
Oct - Teruyuki Yamazaki appointed president
1963
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May - Introduced Mazak brand and began production of Mazak lathes
1965
Jul - Moved Headquarters to new plant in Oguchi
1968
Jul - Established Yamazaki Machinery Corporation in New York, U.S.A.
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Sep - Developed the first Mazak NC lathe, MTC series
1970
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Apr - Developed the first Mazak machining center, BTC No. 5
Apr - Established Dusseldorf, West Germany offices
1971
Sep - Developed the first adaptive control lathe, MTC-1500R-AC, in Japan
1974
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Jul - Completed Yamazaki Machinery Corporation (current name Mazak Corporation)Facility in Greater Cincinnati
1975
Aug - Established Yamazaki Machinery Europe N.V. in Leuven, Belgium
1976
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Nov - Developed the machining system YMS-30
1979
Oct - Completed world headquarters Technical Center in Oguchi
1980
Jul - Established Yamazaki Machinery U.K. Ltd.
1981
Feb - Established Yamazaki Maquinas Herramientas S.A. de C.V., Mexico
Apr - Established Yamazaki Machinery Deutschland GmbH in Frankfurt
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Jun - "Developed world’s first conversational CNC system for lathes, the MAZATROL T-1. Developed CNC lathe QUICK TURN 10"
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Oct - Yamazaki Machinery Corporation joined NMTBA (now AMT)
Oct - FMF began unmanned operation at Oguchi Plant
1982
Feb - Established MAZAK SERVICE FRANCE S.A. near Paris
Jul - Changed company name to Mazak Corporation from Yamazaki Machinery Corporation
Nov - Yamazaki Mazak Deutschland GmbH headquarters moved to Goppingen
1983
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Apr - Developed multi-tasking machine, SLANT TURN 40N ATC Mill Center
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May - Completed Minokamo plant
Dec - Developed unmanned operation system MAZATROL FMS
1984
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Oct - Developed CO2 laser processing machine, LASER PATH 4040
1985
Nov - Changed company name to Yamazaki Mazak Corporation from Yamazaki Machinery Works, Ltd.
1987
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Jun - Yamazaki Machinery U.K. (now YAMAZAKI MAZAK U.K. LTD.) began full-scale operation of CIM plant in Europe
Nov - Established Tokyo Tsukuba Techno Hall
1988
Mar - Yamazaki Machinery U.K. first exporting of CNC machine tools to Japan
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Sep - Mazak Corporation received a All-American Top 10 Best Company Award.
1991
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Oct - Yamazaki Machinery U.K. received a Best in the World Companies Award in the machine tool field from the Swedish Royal Academy of Science
1992
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Apr - "Queen's Award for Export Achievement" awarded to Yamazaki Mazak U.K. Ltd.
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May - Completed YAMAZAKI MAZAK SINGAPORE PTE.,LTD. Plant YAMAZAKI MAZAK SINGAPORE PTE.,LTD.
Dec - Yamazaki Mazak U.K. Ltd. obtained ISO-9001 certifications
1993
Aug - Developed automatic aluminum wheel manufacturing system, AW Factory 650
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Aug - Developed PALLETECH MANUFACTURING SYSTEM which can be easily expanded
1995
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Oct - Mazak Corporation received a Philip B Crosby Award
Nov - Yamazaki Mazak headquarters and 4 manufacturing plants in Japan obtained ISO-9001 certifications
1996
Oct - Developed FF-510, ultra-high speed horizontal machining center - 1G axes acceleration
Dec - Yamazaki Mazak Italia S.R.L. opened Technology Center
1997
May - Yamazaki Mazak France S.A.S. opened Technology Center
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Sep - Developed multi-tasking machine with Y-axis, INTEGREX 200Y
Dec - Mazak Sulamericana Ltda opened Technology Center
1998
Feb - Opened Technology Center in Pune, India (Current Yamazaki Mazak India Pvt., Ltd.)
Mar - Yamazaki Mazak Netherland B.V. opened Technology Center
Jun - Completed Oguchi Plant Cyber Factory designed for networking of whole production facility
Jun - Developed MAZATROL FUSION 640 CNC system that fuses NC and PC
Oct - Established Shanghai Technology Center (Current YAMAZAKI MAZAK TECHNOLOGY (SHANGHAI) CO., LTD.)
1999
Sep - Yamazaki Mazak Singapore Pte. Ltd. obtained ISO-9001 certifications.
Oct - 80th anniversary of the establishment of Yamazaki Mazak Corporation “Touch the Future 100” was held.
Oct - Developed multi-face 5-axis machine VARIAXIS 200
2000
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May - Completed Ningxia Little Giant Machine Tool., Ltd. Cyber Factory in China
Aug - The founder of Yamazaki Mazak, Sadakichi Yamazaki, was honored by being included in the American Machinist's Hall of Innovators as a founder of the world-renowned company and as an innovative person of the 1910~1920.
2001
Apr - Established Yamazaki Mazak Taiwan Corp., Taiwan Technology Center
Jun - Teruyuki Yamazaki was appointed Chairman and CEO, Yoshihiko Yamazaki was appointed Senior Vice Chairman, Tomohisa Yamazaki was appointed President
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Sep - Developed advanced multi-tasking machine INTEGREX e series
2002
Feb - Yamazaki Mazak headquarters and 4 manufacturing plants in Japan obtained ISO-14000 certification
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Jul - Developed new generation, world-class machine tools produced worldwide, NEXUS series
2003
May - Established Yamazaki Mazak Korea Co., Ltd., Korea Technology Center
2004
May - Developed UN-600V and UN-600H designed for high productivity with extremely compact floor space requirements
Jun - Established Yamazaki Mazak Central Europe s.r.o in Czech
Oct - Introduced MAZACARE support system in the Japanese market
2005
Sep - Developed new generation CNC system, MAZATROL MATRIX
Sep - Equipped all INTEGREX 200-IV models with intelligent functions
2006
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Apr - Established World Technology Center in Minokamo, Japan
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Nov - Completed Minokamo Plant 2
2007
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Apr - Queen's Award for Export Achievement awarded to Yamazaki Mazak U.K. Ltd.
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Sep - Developed compact multi-tasking machine, INTEGREX i-150
Sep - Yamazaki Mazak U.K. Ltd. developed VTC 800/30SR
2008
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Apr - Completed the underground factory of Yamazaki Mazak Optonics Corporation
Aug - Completed Cyber Spindle Factory and World Parts Center at Minokamo 2
Oct - Completed Thailand Technology Center. (Current MAZAK (THAILAND) CO., LTD.)
2009
Aug - Completed World R&D Center (World Research and Development Center)
Nov - Established large-scale support base (European Technology Center) in U.K.
2010
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Apr - Opened The Yamazaki Mazak Museum of Art
Jun - Opened Guangzhou Technology Center in China
Aug - Opened Dalian Technology Center in China
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Nov - New focus on ergonomics for all products
2011
Apr - Relocated and expanded India Technology Center
Jun - Relocated and expanded Houston (Southwest) Technology Center
Sep - Chairman and CEO Teruyuki Yamazaki passed away
Nov - Opened Leipzig Technology Center in Germany
2012
Mar - Relocated and expanded Duesseldorf Technology Center
Mar - Opened Poland Technology Center
Apr - Opened Czech Technology Center
2013
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Mar - Completed Yamazaki Mazak Machine Tool (Liaoning) Co., Ltd. Plant
Mar - Relocated and expanded Korea Technology Center
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Jun - His Royal Highness, The Prince of Wales, visited Yamazaki Mazak's European headquarters
Jun - Relocated and expanded Brazil Technology Center
Jul - Opened Technical Centers in Indonesia and Vietnam
2014
Mar - Expanded Yamazaki Mazak Singapore Pte., Ltd. Cyber Factory and New South East Asia Technology Center
Jul - 40th anniversary of Mazak Corporation production in the U.S.A
Sep - Introduced new CNC MAZATROL SmoothX CNC
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Oct - Introduced two Hybrid multi-tasking machines
2015
Jan - Introduction of MAZAK iSMART Factory concept
Mar - Mazak expands European Parts Center in Belgium
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Sep - Release of MAZATROL SmoothG and MAZATROL SmoothC CNC system
Nov - Mazak Corporation together with Cisco developed MAZAK SMARTBOX, a "launch platform for easy and highly secure entrance into the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)
2016
Feb - Yamazaki Mazak Inabe plant announced
2016 SetouchiTG 1
Apr - Opened Setouchi Technology Center
May - Opened Hungary Technology Center
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May - Opened China Parts Center
Sep - Opened Aerospace Technology Center
2016 VARIAXISj600AM 1
Nov - Developed hybrid multi-tasking machine VARIAXIS j-600AM
Nov - Announcement of Mazak and Cisco collaboration
2017
Mar - Announcement of Mazak and Muratec (AS/RS) collaboration
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May - The “Mazak iSMART Factory” starts operation at Yamazaki Mazak Headquarters in Japan
May - Integration of the two production bases in Minokamo, Japan and the plan for the Mazak iSMART FactoryTM at Minokamo were announced
Jun - 25th anniversary of the start of production at the Singapore plant
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Sep - Developed high speed, high accuracy UD-400/5X 5-axis machining center designed for molds and high precision machining
Nov - 2 employees were commended as Contemporary Master Craftsmen by the Japanese Government Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare
2018
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May - Inabe plant in Inabe city, Mie prefecture starts operation after completion of first stage of construction
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Sep - Developed hybrid multi-tasking machine INTEGREX AG series integrating multi-tasking machine with gear cutting
Oct - Introduction of the hybrid multi-tasking machine VARIAXIS j-600/5X AM integrating the world’s first blue laser additive manufacturing and machining
Nov - Developed Smooth AI spindle which minimizes chatter for high precision machining surfaces and higher productivity by utilizing AI
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Nov - Developed 3D direct diode laser processing machine FG-220 DDL
Nov - Introduction of Mazak iCONNECT utilizing IoT
Nov - An employee of the Cyber Spindle Factory at Minokamo Plant 2 was commended as a Contemporary Master Craftsmen by the Japanese Government Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare

 

Looking forward to the next 100 years

When standing on the floor of the Mazak iSMART Factory surrounded by the state-of-the-art technology manufacturers now work with every day, it's easy to forget that nearly a century ago, Sadakichi Yamazaki founded Yamazaki Machinery as a company focused on machines to weave straw mats. Less than a decade later, the company began producing its first machine tools, and not long after, it had officially created the brand that remains synonymous with innovation and quality to this day.

Today, Mazak is leading the way with revolutionary products like the Mazak SmartBox and the Mazak iSMART Factory. Smooth Technology is bringing advanced manufacturing to job shops with products like Smooth Monitor AX and Smooth PMC, while our line-up of machine tools has expanded to include advanced manufacturing technologies like friction stir welding and multi-laser metal deposition.

What will the future of manufacturing bring? How is Mazak changing the world, one machine at a time? We look forward to finding out together as we continue to pursue success.