One Year, One Facility - 10,000 Machines
Compared to the automotive and consumer-products industries, which deal in yearly sales well into the millions of units, the machine tool industry is a relatively low-volume proposition.
Unit volume, however, is a relative term. In an industry where many companies struggle to build 100 machines per year*, manufacturing 10,000 machines in a 12-month period is a major feat.
That's exactly what Haas Automation, Inc., did in 2005. The company built - as well as sold and shipped - more than 10,000 high-quality Haas CNC machines at its manufacturing facility in Oxnard, California. That's an increase of more than 22% over 2004, and more than 200% over 2003.
"I know of no other machine tool builder in the world that has done this," states Haas General Manager Bob Murray, adding that the company reached this goal during a period of widespread plant restructuring and expansion.
Increasing production by 200% over just two years, says Director of Operations Richard Mountain, has required a lot of hard work from a lot of people - every area of the company has contributed. "But," he says, "it's what we do. We set a goal and we make it happen. People have always worked hard at Haas, and that's not going to change. We are constantly implementing more and more technology, and continually reviewing our processes. It's not just a matter of taking what we do and multiplying it by some factor. It's about innovation.
"Through innovation," Mountain continues, "we expect our efficiencies to continually grow. The opportunities are there, and it's our responsibility to figure out the right way to make things happen."
Worldwide sales of Haas machines continue to remain strong, with no signs of letting up. Orders in December, traditionally a slow sales month in the machine tool industry, topped 1000 machines - the best December in the company's history, and the third time in 12 months that orders for Haas machines have broken the 1000-machine mark.
*According to UCC filings for 2005 - which report the number of machine tools financed in the U.S., a rough estimate of units sold - more than 90% of the world's machine tool builders sold fewer than 50 machines each during 2005. The top five builders accounted for more than one third of all U.S. sales, with Haas nearly double the volume of its closest competitor.
Contact:
Scott Rathburn
805-988-6922
