The UK arm of Yamazaki Mazak, building machine tools at its Worcester factory, which is its flagship European manufacturing plant.
Mazak makes machine tools, which are the computer-controlled machines that cut, turn and mill metal into precise parts. Almost every metal product, from aircraft components to medical implants, starts on machines like these. According to the company's UK page, its Worcester plant makes more than 1,000 machine tools a year and supplies over 50 machine types across Europe and beyond. A 2021 article listed eight models then built in Worcester, including the CV50-500 machining centre and several Quick Turn lathes, three of which had just moved there from Japan.
Mazak's parent company, Yamazaki, was founded in 1919 in Nagoya, Japan, according to Grace's Guide. It began as a small maker of pots and pans and moved over the decades into mat-making machinery, woodworking machinery and then machine tools, especially lathes. The pages we read give no formal mission or values statement for the UK business, so we have not made one up. The UK page does describe the factory as "one of Europe's most advanced manufacturing facilities".
The Worcester site is on Badgeworth Drive, about 1.5 miles from the M5. Grace's Guide says the UK factory opened in November 1981, while Mazak's own UK page says 1987, so the exact start date is unclear. Worcester is also home to the company's European Technology Centre, one of 15 in Europe, where customers can see machines, test-cut their own parts and discuss applications. A 2021 article reported 22 people in the applications engineering team. The site also has a Spindle Service Centre of 45 full-time staff in a temperature-controlled setting; it has repaired more than 700 spindle types. A spindle is the rotating part that holds the cutting tool.
In the two years to mid-2021 the company reported investing in new machines and robot-assisted cells at Worcester, and launched a 360-degree virtual showroom for UK customers. This suggests a workplace that blends traditional machining with automation and digital tools. The pages we read do not give total staff numbers or describe the culture in the company's own words, so we cannot say more.
A site like this employs mechanical and electrical engineers, machinists, assemblers, applications engineers who help customers program the machines, service engineers, and people in sales, logistics, finance and purchasing. School subjects such as maths, physics, design and technology and computing are all useful starting points. Seeing finished machines leave the factory for customers across Europe is a very visible result of the work.
Website: www.mazak.com/uk-en
PURPOSE helps school and university students explore 62 sectors and over 1,000 entry-level careers in the UK, then connects them directly with employers.
Explore PURPOSE