Companies in Niwa-gun, Aichi

Mazak's name is a deliberate simplification of Yamazaki — founder Sadakichi Yamazaki changed the company's romanized name to make it easier for Western customers to pronounce, a small decision in 1919 Nagoya that foreshadowed the global strategy the company still runs today. Yamazaki Mazak is now one of the world's largest machine tool builders, with a product line that spans turning centers, machining centers, and multi-tasking machines that mill, turn, and grind in a single setup. The company's claim to manufacturing fame is the INTEGREX series, the machines that popularized multi-tasking: a single INTEGREX can replace three or four conventional machines, cutting cycle times and setup errors dramatically. Mazak also pioneered 'done-in-one' processing and its Smooth CNC control, and its iSMART Factory concept — connecting machines, tools, and production data — turned its own plants into showcases for the automation it sells. With headquarters in Oguchi, Aichi, manufacturing plants in Japan, the US, the UK, Singapore, and China, and about 11,000 employees, Mazak generates annual sales near ¥500 billion. Its American factory in Florence, Kentucky, has been producing machines for North America since 1974, making Mazak one of the most localized of the Japanese machine tool giants — an advantage for buyers needing domestic supply and support.