History of HAAS Machine

Haas Automation is the largest machine tool builder that manufactures these four major product lines: vertical machining centers (VMCs), horizontal machining centers (HMCs), CNC lathes and rotary tables. as well as a number of large five-axis, specialty machines, and machine tool accessories – with high quality, more standard features and innovations, while at better prices. It offers a complete product line that is engineered for simple maintenance, easy set up, and low-cost operation. The company’s facility is located in Oxnard, California, and it is the largest and most modern machine tool manufacturing operation in the United States.

Haas Automation, Inc. was founded by Gene F. Haas in 1983. Eugene “Gene” Francis Haas was born on November 12, 1952 and is the founder, president, and sole stockholder of Haas Automation. The company’s

He displayed his fully automatic, programmable collet indexer at an industry expo called WESTEC and it received a lot of positive reactions from the attendees, so he decided to form Haas Automation to mass-produce this indexer. This is the company’s first machine tool – which is a device used to position parts for machining with very high accuracy, and it sold well because it was programmable and inexpensive. And because of the success of the patented Haas 5C collet indexer, Haas Automation, Inc. expanded its product line over the next four years to include a wide selection of economical and reliable machine tools.

The company started manufacturing its first vertical machining center (VMC) in 1987. This VMC is designed to be able to perform machining operations such as milling, drilling, tapping, and boring. It uses rotary cutters, and tools typically cut across the top of a workpiece with a vertical spindle in place. The machine was called the VF-1 and its first prototypes were completed and introduced at the International Machine Tool Show (IMTS 88) in Chicago, Illinois during the year 1988. And since this machine has numerous competitors from offshore manufacturers, it was introduced at a cost lesser than the competitors. Despite the industry scholars and members of the trade press being skeptical with an American-made machining center that was sold for less than $50,000, Haas successfully delivered on the price and the product. In 1990, a team of British industry professionals saw the potential of this new development and became the first company to distribute Haas machines outside of the United States. This company remained as the only Haas distributor to specialize solely in distributing Haas machines throughout its entire history. Despite the comment of the established competitor about the VF-1 vertical machining center failing in the market, it made its debut in UK during 1991, surpassed all expectations, and installed over 10,000 machines in UK. The company has installed over 250,000 machines worldwide.

The company eventually expanded into Canadian and British markets. Some of its first overseas markets were located in Denmark, Holland, and Israel. In 1993, Haas entered a partnership with a Swiss machine tool builder called Mikron for additional distribution to the European market. In 1994, Haas produced its first CNC lathe which is called the HL-1 and it turned out to be one of the most renowned pieces of equipment the company produces.

The Haas VF-1 is still on the market and sold for less than $50,000 nowadays, with the same consistency and popularity as it has back when it first started. In fact, the machine can be delivered to a customer within just a few weeks of the initial order. Haas uses state-of-the-art CNC machine tools to ensure accuracy in manufacturing their products. The company has a 1.6 million square foot facility with highly-trained teams for electronics and mechanical assembly, uses the latest lean manufacturing methods extensively, and performs timely production practices to reduce cost, modernize production capabilities, and allow the company to control quality, reliability, and availability. As a result, they are able to deliver high quality products with lower prices. The VF-1 is a small VMC but the VF line extends all the way up to VF-12, which has a massive 150” X-axis. After realizing his dream of building VMCs, Gene Haas wanted to expand into CNC products. With this, the company started manufacturing Horizontal Machining Centers (HMC) and CNC lathes. HMC is a machine that has a spindle parallel to the ground floor and allows for two-pallet changer integration to facilitate unattended operation and reduce part cycle times. The other product is a CNC turning lathe, which is a computer-controlled machine that allows basic machining operations such as turning and drilling. These pieces of machinery are designed for modern processes and Haas Automation has been producing top of the line machines ever since 1983.

In 2005, 44% of Haas products were shipped either to Asia or Europe – making the company successful not only in America but also internationally. It passed $700 million in sales in 2006, using only simple sales forecasts with spreadsheets and minimum paperwork.

Haas Automation produces over 18,000 machines every year, and is considered as the largest tool manufacturer in the western world. There are more than two-thirds Haas machines in the Haas machine shop, out of the nearly 300 chip-making machine tools. They add new manufacturing equipment constantly to increase production capacity and capability, and reduce the cost of Haas products to the end user as they efficiently produce more parts. If you’re interested in buying a used Haas CNC Machine, contact us at S&M Machinery, the leading independent machinery dealer of late-model surplus used Haas CNC machine tools in the United States. Look through our extensive inventory of used Haas Machines and contact us today, we’ll help you find the right machine that’s perfect for your business.