Welcome to California! Haas Automation Inc Greets its Friends From Europe

Phil Black - PII Editor 16/12/2011

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In March 2011, Haas Automation Inc. held its first, factory HaasTEC open house for several years. The event attracted visitors from all over the USA and the rest of the world, including many from Europe. Inspired by the enthusiasm of those who travelled over 6000 miles to see how Haas machines are built, the company immediately made plans to hold a similar event, specifically for its European customers.

The multi-national event took place in October and hosted attendees representing 66 different companies, from Sweden, Denmark, France, Germany, Belgium, Holland, Poland and Estonia.

The two-day open house was an opportunity for visitors to see the Haas factory working at full-tilt, as well as put faces to some well-known names, including General Manager, Bob Murray and, of course, founder and owner, Gene Haas. Guests were driven around the extensive, Oxnard factory complex (including the areas marked out for to new buildings planned for early 2012) in electric golf carts and, as always, nothing was off-limits; the latest Haas innovations were available for inspection and senior-managers were on-hand to answer every and any question.

Haas Automation Inc. has more than 1000 engineers, assemblers and factory operatives at its Oxnard factory, including programmers, assemblers and operators. The company doubled its production output during 2010 and is currently building 1200 machines per month: an average 50 machines per day, increasing to 80/day in 2012.

Guest Mr Markus Rominger, managing director at Rominger Medizintechnik GmbH, a manufacture of instruments for neurosurgery, orthopedics and gynecology, was particularly impressed with how well-organised and efficient he found the Haas factory to be: “Everything flows so smoothly,” he said, a sentiment shared by many attendees, including Mr. Volker Hettig, from Hettig German Precision, a producer of high-quality parts in medical and dental technology: “I have been amazed by the high-level of automation and the perfectly organized operational procedures,” he said. “But, what struck me most was that so many of the machines employed by Haas were actually Haas machines. Almost everything is fabricated with Haas machines! For me, the company’s faith in its own product demonstrates the trustworthiness of their own equipment.”

Mr. Gerd Fiedler from BFA Anlagen + Systeme GmbH, specialising in plastics technology and injection moulding was struck by how so few Haas parts are bought-in: “It is amazing that Haas is doing almost everything in-house, including spindles, gearboxes, vector drives, tool changers, even the CNC control,” he enthused. “We’ve seen extraordinary feats of engineering craftsmanship and witnessed very lean and efficient manufacturing processes.”

Mr. Jürgen Hinkhofer from ‘Ernst und Landerer’ has invested in 23 Haas machines, cutting moulds used in the manufacturing of pumps. “I am grateful that Haas Inc. granted us insight in their production,” he said. “I’m very impressed with the ultra-modern production set-up, the many robots cells and the cleanliness in the factory. Coming here has made me feel particularly justified in buying Haas machines for Ernst und Landerer. Even our first machines, from 1997, still run without problems. Now I can see why they last well.”

In the Swedish contingent, Jan-Olov Melin and Ola Melin, owners of Melin & Carlsson Hydraulic AB, manufacturer of hydraulic cylinders for forest and agriculture transportation, said: “We have seen Haas Automation grow and expand a lot in recent years, but the company’s continued focus on good performance at an honest price has helped our firm to also grow, and be strong and profitable.”

Haas customers the world-over, know all about the company’s core values of honest pricing, high quality and excellent, fast service. Those who attended the HaasTEC event in Oxnard had the opportunity to see behind the scenes and learn a little more about exactly how the Haas lives up to its promises.

“We hope our guests went home inspired by what they saw during this event,” says Mr. Alain Reynvoet, managing director of Haas Automation Europe. “We also hope they will remember what they learned and feel even more confident that they have invested in the best-value CNC machine tools in the world. It was a pleasure for us to welcome them to the factory and to have the chance to get to know them, their businesses and their needs a little better. The event was a great success.”