About
Tom Herzog
Expert Mazatrol Programming, Processing, Tooling, Training, Troubleshooting and Time Studies
I am a Lathe man. And, I am a professional. You will get what you are looking for from me.
The short version
- 45+ years full-time in the shop
- 19 years employed by Mazak Corporation as Application Engineer (1990–2009, Florence KY)
- 15 years before that running every area of his father's shop, Michigan Automatic Turning (Brighton MI) — transmission shafts and gears for John Deere, Ford Tractor, and government contracts
- Originally trained as a tracer-lathe operator, then CNC lathe machinist at American Tool in Cincinnati OH
What I work on
Mazak lathe specialist. Quick Turn, Slant Turn, Integrex multi-tasking. Mazatrol T-Plus / T-32 / T-32B / SmoothG / Matrix turning controls back to the older T-2 / T-3 generation. Not Mazak mills, not Haas/Fanuc, not generic CNC.
Machine families
- Quick Turn (QT, QT-Ultra, Nexus variants)
- Slant Turn (SQT, SQT-MS multi-spindle)
- Integrex multi-tasking (i-series, Multiplex)
- Older lathes: M-32, Mazatrol Fusion 640
Controls
- Mazatrol T-Plus / T+
- Mazatrol T-32, T-32B, T-32-3
- Mazatrol SmoothG (turning)
- Mazatrol Matrix (turning)
- Older: T-2, T-3, Fusion 640
How I help
Mazatrol Programming
Process and program new parts on customer's existing Mazak lathe, from print to first good piece.
On-site Training
Train operators and programmers on Mazatrol turning controls. Days to weeks on-site.
Troubleshooting
Diagnose alarms, fix programs, recover lost tool data, resolve work-holding and tooling issues.
Process Improvement / Time Studies
Cycle-time reduction on existing parts. Tooling and feeds optimization. Documented before/after.
Turnkey Process Engineering
End-to-end process design for new parts: tooling, work-holding, programming, set-up, training, hand-off.
Documented results
Real cycle-time numbers from real engagements. Before-and-after on actual parts, on the customer's actual machine.
Quick Turn, 'Second Gear', Op 10: 10'27" → 3'32" (66% cycle-time reduction, 101 pcs run)
Quick Turn, 'Second Gear', Op 20: 7'36" → 4'13" (45% cycle-time reduction)
Twin spindle Integrex: 200 pcs/month from 24'17" → 16'05" (34% cycle-time reduction)
Lomar (Mazak lathe): 33% overall cycle-time reduction documented
“Tom is professional, broadly knowledgeable, focused, flexible and friendly. Tom's abilities to teach were excellent. Our two team members chosen for the training spoke highly of Tom, his patience and his willingness to share tips, tricks and best practices. The training went so well that we had Tom stay on for 4 or 5 extra days.”
Past engagements
Selected customers across automotive, heavy equipment, and government work.
Dana
turnkey process lead (Mazak App Eng era), plus later 'new diff case line' process rescue: shorter / more rigid boring bars, 55° → 80° inserts where possible, re-programmed tool paths, flat-top inserts; documented in /client/Men.docx
US Manufacturing
turnkey process lead
Anderson Cook
turnkey process lead
Hillsdale Tool
turnkey process lead
Metaldyne Corporation
twin spindle 6-axis lathe with gantry robot: process, program, tool, set-up, train (Litchfield MI)
General Motors Powertrain (Pontiac)
CNC machine tool spare parts maintenance assessment and rationalization
American Gear
significant CNC lathe throughput improvement
Classic Turning
process improvement across many existing jobs
Q Corp Inc.
technical review and quality manager
Lomar
documented 33% cycle-time reduction (via Addy Machinery / Peter Addy referral)
Hemco Gage (Holland MI)
older-Mazak training (via Addy Machinery referral); customer extended engagement 4-5 days based on results; written testimonial available
Have a Mazak lathe job?
Send me the part, the machine, and the control version. I'll tell you what's possible.
Linden, Michigan