Mazak Corporation president Brian Papke

Despite gloomy global economic indicators, one sector looks bright and its not one that has had much to be positive about in the recent past: machine tools.

According to Brian Papke, president of Mazak Corporation, the machining segment is rebounding strongly. Speaking at the recent Discover Mazak Tomorrows Technology Today conference, Papke was strongly positive.

We anticipated 1500 people (at the event) and 2500 have registered. I look at the news and its all negative, but the truth is, the facts are somewhat different for manufacturing than for the economy as a whole, declares Papke, adding its almost as if the government media and educational institutions created this aura that all manufacturing has gone offshore and they lost touch with grassroots manufacturing in favor of other special interests. They cant see the small jobs shops that are busy.

Mazak is busy,and is hiring. Says Papke, At Mazak, machine tool orders are up substantially. in our case, Mazak Corporations 2010 orders were up 99 percent and so far in 2012 are up 81 percent. Our incoming orders are now higher than in 2008. The prospects are bright.

Are companies still moving to China? Yes! it makes sense as they are large markets. But for a while it was a fashion to move to China and some of this didnt make economic sense. Higher freight costs, quality issues, more complex product designs and Just In Time requirements are influencing a return of considerable manufacturing to the U.S.maybe reshoring is the new fashion.

The numbers at Mazak appear to support Papkes optimism. Industrial equipment utilization is 76 percent. Our parts and service business is 100$M a year. Try to find a used Mazak machine.its hard. A lot of small companies are doing very well. The opportunities to create more jobs in North America are here, he said.

Were running at capacity and were expanding. Well make 130 machines this month. Last year we added 275 people and have 75 positions open right now. We have eight technology centers in North America. Our customers are doing well.thats one reason why we have 2,500 attendees at Tomorrows Technology Today. We can grow morebut we need to do more to train skilled workers.

www.mazakcanada.ca