July 12, 2016 - Mazak Corp., Florence, Kentucky, has announced that Brian Papke, long-time company president, has accepted a new position as Chairman, and Daniel Janka, former executive vice president, has been named company president. As of July 1, Janka will assume the normal operating functions of Mazak’s North American operations, including Mazak’s iSMART Factory and North American Headquarters in Kentucky along with the company’s eight Technology Centers located throughout North America.
With these new appointments, Mazak positions itself for continued future growth and further strengthens its Rock Solid industry reputation. This next generation of leadership together with the entire Mazak team will continue the company’s forward momentum and pioneering spirit in the manufacturing industry’s new digital frontier. It will also further strengthen the company’s industry dominance in multitasking, 5-axis and additive manufacturing technologies. This seamless leadership transition will also ensure customers continue to receive the machine tool industry’s most comprehensive service and support as well as the latest most advanced machine tool technology.
Papke personally selected Janka who joined Mazak in early 2016. Janka’s experience in the machine tool industry and his extensive involvement with machine tool utilization software and 5-axis technology at past positions meshes well with Mazak’s iSMART Factory and the company’s commitment to MTConnect as well as the total Mazak iSMART manufacturing concept.
Papke has been with Mazak since 1987 and company president since 1989. Under his leadership, the Kentucky plant grew from one building to its current five-building, 800,000-sq-ft campus where the company now designs and builds some of the industry’s most advanced manufacturing systems, including innovative full 5-axis and Multi-Tasking machines – and most recently, the introduction of Mazak’s iSMART Factory Concept and the Mazak SmartBox that allow for the further integration of digital solutions in manufacturing.
