On November 7, DMG Mori Seiki held a ribbon cutting and grand opening at their new facility in Davis, California. Company President, Dr. Masahiko Mori addressed key members of the local government, manufacturing community and press at event.
At IMTS 2012 in Chicago company officials expressed their optimism that manufacturing would return to North America – particularly in the United States. At the opening of the new factory, (which is the company’s first in the U.S.) they discussed how it would be a resource for more than just machine tools.
Company President, Dr. Masahiko Mori
Aside from manufacturers seeking horizontal machining centres, the facility is also meant to be a venue for general manufacturing concerns, such as factory automation.
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. Production started in July of 2012 and current capacity is 80 units per month.
The machines being built are the Mori Seiki NHX4000, NHX5000 and NHX5500 – with column and medium part machining on three NHX10000 machines installed with a linear pallet pool (LPP) system with 60 pallets.
The NHX4000 horizontal machining centre is designed for the machining of workpieces of up to 24.8 inches by 35.4 inches, with a loading capacity of up to 880 lbs.
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 40 per cent 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.
