Haas Automation, A cut above

Manufacturing in Action, Source : The Manufacturer US

W.H. Parson uncovers the sharper side of machine tool manufacturer Haas Automation.

In June of this year, Haas Automation, Inc. factory outlets throughout the US and Canada hosted the company’s second annual Demo Day. The latest advances in high-speed machining equipment, tooling, and CAD/CAM software were demonstrated on machines manufactured by the largest machine tool builder in the US. Haas makes CNC vertical machining centers, horizontal machining centers, CNC lathes, rotary tables, and 5C indexers. Its 800,000 square-foot facility in Oxnard, Calif. is the largest and most modern operation of its type in the country. The company controls 39% of the US market for vertical machining centers, has a 15% market share of lathe sales, and ships more CNC machines per month than any other US manufacturer. Its North American network of 60 locally owned and operated factory outlets provides comprehensive local sales, service, and support, and the Demo Day was an opportunity for them to show what they have to offer.

Five applications were highlighted. Each outlet presented live demonstrations of those that best suited the industries in its geographic area and showed video demonstrations of others. A Haas VF-2 VMC with 15,000-rpm spindle, 1200-ipm rapids, high-speed machining software with full look-ahead, and 16 MB expanded memory was seen cutting a water bottle mold in hardened tool steel. A graphite EDM electrode for a small automotive part was cut using a Haas VF-2 with 30,000-rpm spindle, vacuum dust-extraction system, 1200-ipm rapids, high-speed machining software with full look-ahead, and system 3R workholding.

Haas’ new Mini Mill has certainly been a technical success. For smaller shops, or those just starting out, it has proven an affordable first step into CNC. The attraction for larger shops is that the Mini Mill is a capable, small-footprint machine (6.5 by 6.5 feet) that is suitable for performing second operations or machining smaller jobs that would otherwise tie up a bigger machine. “We knew it would be a popular machine, but the response has been even better than we expected,” said Bob Murray, operations manager. Haas has been able to meet the demand because the Mini Mill has a production line to itself, capable of turning out 200 machines a month.

The man behind all this high-tech success is the company’s founding president, Gene Haas, whose first brush with the metalworking trade was a literal one: as a teenager, he swept the floors of machine shops after school for pocket change. Later, in high school, he worked at local Southern California machine shops developing the skills that supported him while attending California State University at Northridge, from which he graduated in 1975 with a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting and finance. Haas found job opportunities limited in the field of accounting and continued working at various machine shops, honing his skills and learning the trade, both on the shop floor and in the front office. In 1978, he struck out on his own and started Proturn Engineering in Sun Valley, California. Proturn was a small machine shop that specialized in subcontractor work for the aerospace and electronics industries. Over the next five years, it built up a dedicated customer base that resulted in the need for a rotary indexer to increase productivity. The indexers on the market at the time were expensive and cumbersome to use, so Haas decided to design and manufacture his own. Working with Kurt Zierhut, he developed the first fully-programmable 5C collet indexer in 1983. It was the birth of Haas Automation, Inc. Over the next five years, Haas designed and manufactured a full line of indexers and rotary tables, making his company the leader in fourth-axis parts positioning. In 1987, he began developing a CNC vertical machining center with the idea of creating a high-quality, affordable machine. Haas had been a machinist himself, so he was able to design it from both a programmer’s and operator’s points of view. The success of this machine, the VF-1, led him to develop a complete line of vertical machining centers, horizontal machining centers, and CNC lathes.

Gene Haas’ expertise has helped his company to survive and thrive even in recession. Orders for machine tools in the US dropped by more than 31% in 2001, but Haas’ order book shrank by only 11% of its record-setting achievement in 2000. “Our sales have remained strong during this economic decline, and we continue to be profitable,” said Denis Dupuis, Haas general manager. Sales manager Peter Hall is equally upbeat, “Haas is known for providing superior, high-value machine tools at affordable prices. We will continue building our market share for all products in 2002.”

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