Nakata Co., Ltd.

Nakata Co., Ltd. was founded in 1977 by Chairman Yoshifumi Nakata, the father of President Nakata, and incorporated in 1982. What began as a subcontracting business has steadily expanded since 1990, when the company began handling subsequent machining of aluminum die-cast products. Currently, the company specializes in precision machining of aluminum products. The company handles high-mix, low-volume production of aluminum products in six fields: semiconductor manufacturing equipment, optics, electronics, industrial robots, food manufacturing equipment, medical and pharmaceutical equipment, and the development of ultrafine processing technology.

The second factory, called “White Base”, which began operation in 2022, manufactures consumable parts for semiconductor manufacturing equipment and parts for industrial robots. This is a dedicated factory for massproducing aluminum precision parts with strict dimensional tolerances, using only Mazak machines. ”We don’t take on jobs that can be completed with just a program and a machine, as that would only lead to us joining price wars. Our goal is to have a small team of people take on difficult jobs that use unexpected ideas and wisdom to turn customers’ thoughts into reality. I believe these people are the ‘newtypes’ who will lead the next generation,” says President Nakata, explaining the aim of opening the “White Base.”

The company first introduced the VARIAXIS 500-5XII and QUICK TURN NEXUS200-II MSY to its main factory in 2011. This decision was made to realize President Nakata’s vision of “launch a factory that is not bound by existing ideas and is run with an innovative approach like Mazak”.

Currently, the “White Base” is equipped with an INTEGREX i-200H S + TA-20/270, an INTEGREX i-250H S + TA-20/270, two QUICK TURN 250MSYs, and a VARIAXIS i-600 + MPP, and operates around the clock, including weekends, to manufacture mass-produced aluminum parts that require micron-level precision. ”Since we established a system consisting entirely of Mazak machines, productivity has increased by about three times. This improvement is not only due to the machines themselves, but also to the linkage with peripheral equipment and 24-hour service support,” says Director Taku Yamamoto, evaluating the results of automation from his position as the factory manager.

“However, manual work is still required in the final stages to ensure quality, so it cannot be said that our factory is fully automated. We are focusing on resolving this issue and creating a fully automated system,” says President Nakata. “MAZATROL, which supports automation from a software perspective, is not only easy to use, but also excels in letting us know what to keep attention to, such as alerting users to points that are easy to overlook in easy-to-understand language. This is a very useful feature especially for young engineers,” says Director Yamamoto.

The company has several plans for its upcoming halfcentury anniversary in two years. “In general, we are aiming to build a strong organization. One option to achieve this is to consolidate our headquarters factory and our ‘White Base’, and develop it into a new manufacturing base,” says President Nakata.

President Nakata points out the contribution Mazak machines have made to the “White Base”, the mass production base, by stating, “For example, by combining TA, which handles everything from bringing in raw materials to removing finished products, with our own developed automatic cutting oil supply system and temperature control system, the automation of the INTEGREX i-H series has advanced significantly.”

However, he also stated, “We are not satisfied with just that point. We want to exceed further by challenging ourselves to improve efficiency and engineering capabilities even more. We believe it will be the ‘Newtypes’ who will guide us to our goal.” The eyes of the president were already on the next chapter of the story, where he believes the company will make a great leap forward by combining its accumulated knowledge with Mazak machines.