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Makino History: Part 1

How a company influenced the reputation of a whole country

The starting point of a company does not determine its future, but can impact on the philosophy behind the products.  Makino’s origins are closely linked to the development of the machine tool industry in Japan and even influenced the country’s industrial development.

Starting from a small company of 15 employees in a basement in Tokyo, Makino now has a workforce of almost 5,000 all over the world.

Introduction

When Tsunezo Makino produced the first machine in the basement of our first facilities in Tokyo in 1937, we saw the first milestone in a more than 80-year history of machine tool making – a history that is very much related to the industrial development of an entire country.
 
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Makino K-55

 In 1958, Makino launched the K-55 milling machine, which was developed as a modular concept that could be adapted to customer requirements. It became one of our most sold products. Widely distributed in the high-precision markets for cameras, watches, precision parts and moulds, the K-55 immediately captured the market’s attention due to its flexibility and high quality standard. And in 2006 the K-55 was given a “Long life Best Seller” Award when it passed the mark of 27,000 machines delivered. Even today, this machine from the 1950s is still in demand from institutes and universities in Japan

The NC revolution

But Makino has not just focused on traditional machine tools. As a representative of the Japanese machine tool industry, Tsunezo Makino visited India and promised the Indian Government to develop an NC machine in two years’ time. In order to make that possible, he worked with a subsidiary of Fujitsu (which later became Fanuc) and developed with them the first NC machine in Japan. It was presented at Osaka Jimtof in 1958.

A collaboration that started more than 60 years ago is still going strong and Fanuc NC control, which has the biggest MTBF in their field, has proved the right partner for Makino in offering its customers reliable,high-quality machines.
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