Published 06/08/2017

MC Machinery Systems Officially Opens New Headquarters

Last week, MC Machinery Systems Inc. officially opened its new, larger headquarters in Elk Grove Village. Cynthia Kushtush from sister publication Moldmaking Technology was there to cover it. Here is a small sampling of what she saw.

Edited by: MMS Editorial Team

This is what people see as they drive down Chicago's Interstate 90 - MC Machinery Systems' new headquarters in Elk Grove Village, Illinois. The new building replaced the company’s previous headquarters in Wood Dale, Illinois, and at 175,000 square feet, it is about 76 percent larger.

Patrick Simon, marketing and corporate planning manager for MC Machinery Systems, welcomes the company's guests and many of its 200 employees to the opening ceremony. Elk Grove Village Mayor Craig B. Johnson (far right) was in attendance along with other village officials. Elk Grove Village is home to the largest industrial park in the United States, he said.

MC Machinery Systems employees, partners and friends applaud the opening of the company's new headquarters in Elk Grove Village, Illinois. Several employees commented about how open and bright the new building is compared to the old headquarters in Wood Dale, Illinois. One employee likened working in the new building to feeling like a vampire unable to escape the sunshine. Apparently it took a little time to get used to after working in a building that was much smaller and darker.

While MC Machinery Systems is still moving machines, equipment and other items into its new building, its showrooms have an abundance of brightly-lit space as seen here in the laser area. From 2D CO2 lasers to fiber lasers, five-axis CO2 lasers and more, visitors will be able to comfortably take in the many product offerings.

Next door to the laser machine showroom is the EDM, milling and turning showroom. MC Machinery's new facility boasts 50,000 square feet of showroom space. Just off this area of the building the company is constructing an explosion-proof room where its additive manufacturing machinery and materials. The chemicals and powders used are highly combustible.

This is one of the classrooms in the facility where companies can send employees to train on machines. The classrooms lead out to the showrooms and to machinery used for hands-on learning.

Simon led our group through the company's machine refurbishment area. He said Mitsubishi has more than 2,000 machines being used across the United States and the company has at least one of every model ever sold since 1979. "We still provide service for every single machine we have sold, and we have never sun-setted any of our machines," he said. In addition, the company has a state-of-the-art laboratory and clean room to accommodate PC board repairs. All PC board repairs are performed in house.

Mr. Simon showed what the company calls its Industry 4.0 nerve center where they operate the MC Remote 360 program. Machines can be remotely monitored for process-improvement opportunities as well as for detecting disruptions to customers' operations before they happen. The area includes a demo area for customers to see just how MC Remote 360 works using demo modules, and the entire area of the building is wide open to the customer service department in order to emphasize MC Machinery's customer-focused operations.

This part of the building, when it is set up, will house machine parts and other inventory for repair and replacement on Mitsubishi machines. Not far away is the museum, which is where many of the company's older models can be seen. These machines are also used to test any PC boards or other replacement components for customers' machines before they are shipped.

On June 30, 2016, MC Machinery Systems Inc., a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Corporation, announced its plans to build a new, larger facility in Elk Grove Village, Illinois. The announcement came with company representatives and partners from The Opus Group, Elk Grove Village and Heitman Architects overturning that first shovelful of dirt and, according to a few who were there, virtual reality headsets showing how the building would look when built. Well, last week they found out. MC Machinery Systems hosted an official ribbon-cutting ceremony with employees, partners and press (myself included) on hand.

"All of our competitors are located along Interstate 90 here," said Patrick Simon, marketing and corporate planning manager, during the opening ceremony. "You come out of O'Hare and this is the first building you see." He went on to explain that a gentleman from Ohio flew in to visit a competing EDM supplier, saw the MC Machinery signage on the building, and decided to stop in. "We did a demo for him, and I think we may have sold a machine."

Above is a slideshow of highlights I put together after touring the new building. Mr. Simon said an open house event is in the planning stages for customers and others to visit, tour and see demonstrations of Mitsubishi EDM and laser, milling and turning, press brake and other machines. Take a look.