On Wednesday, November 7, Dr. Masahiko Mori, president of Mori Seiki Co., Ltd. and a member of the Supervisory Board of Gildemeister AG, addressed key members of the local government, manufacturing community and press at the ribbon cutting of the newly‐built Mori Seiki Manufacturing facility. His message for the audience was one of projected continuing prosperity and support for the U.S. manufacturing sector.

Dr. Mori referenced the new factory, a first for the company in America, as a resource not only for manufacturers seeking horizontal machining centers, but, as a collaborative partner for general manufacturing concerns, such as factory automation.

The ribbon cutting ceremony’s audience also included the staff of both Mori Seiki Manufacturing and the adjacent Digital Technology Laboratory (DTL). Over 80 staff members are employed at DTL – an R&D center that collaborates with Mori Seiki Japan on a 24‐hour work cycle to support global manufacturing solutions. The factory and R&D center comprise a combined 291,000 sq. ft.; spread over 19.2 acres in Davis, CA, with eight additional acres reserved for future expansion.

In addition to the ceremonial ribbon cutting, behind‐the‐scenes tours of the factory gave a glimpse inside the $50 million state‐of‐the‐art facility. Mori Seiki NHX4000, NHX5000 and NHX5500 machines are being built at the Davis, CA plant, with column and medium part machining on three NHX10000 machines installed with a linear pallet pool (LPP) system with 60 pallets. The highly automated factory also boasts two NH6300 machines with 40 pallets that machines pallets and small castings. The large machining area is equipped with two Toshiba MPC‐B Series 5‐face, high‐performance machines. With capacity for up to 180 tools and up to 44,092 lbs, this Toshiba cell controlled by DTL’s own LPS III software is able to efficiently produce large NHX Series castings, which are then cleaned by air blow robots.

The castings used in NHX production at the Davis campus come from the same foundry as the NHX
machines produced at factories in Japan. Over forty percent of the machine components are produced domestically, with spindles and ball screws being imported from Mori Seiki Japan. Domestic content will continue to be increased in the future, as additional suppliers are secured. To maintain economic and environmental standards, the factory performs dry and minimum quantity lubricant (MQL) machining only, with chip evacuation by vacuum, in a temperature controlled facility.

Production started in July of 2012 and current capacity is 80 units per month. NHX4000 Series Production. The NHX4000 horizontal machining center is ideal for the machining of workpieces of up to 24.8 inches by 35.4 inches, with a loading capacity of up to 880 lbs. Through an in‐depth analysis of current market needs, Mori Seiki has improved the already high level of performance of the NH Series. The NHX4000 offers cutting capacity equivalent to the previous NH model, with improved features for greater productivity and efficiency.