Machining and turning centers take center stage

Makers of CNC machining equipment are incorporating more and better functionality into their products so users cope better with processing challenges such as those posed by tough new grades of aerospace materials.

The name of the game in manufacturing is new product-be it a car, a computer, or a can opener-and making it available to the customer as quickly as possible. The new-product imperative applies no less to companies that make manufacturing equipment than it does to companies that make products with trendy mass-market appeal.

The average consumer would not know it, but the makers of machining centers-Mazak, Haas, MAG, Mitsui Seiki, Stama, and others-pay close attention to trends, albeit not-mass market types, in cultivating new ideas for growth, all the while improving their own internal manufacturing processes to quickly translate their new ideas into finished goods.