His Royal Highness, The Prince of Wales, visited Yamazaki Mazak's European headquarters, Worcester, on Thursday 6th June 2013.

The visit was His Royal Highness' first to the company's Worcester facility with the main purpose being to learn more about Mazak's approach to manufacturing and the company's commitment to developing young engineers.

The Prince of Wales was greeted by Group Managing Director Europe, Marcus Burton, and Deputy Group Managing Director, Hiroyuki Yamazaki. The Prince began his tour in the Solutions Gallery which demonstrates the different products that can be made with Mazak machine tools, including marine propellers and parts for Formula 1 cars.

The tour continued to Mazak's European Technology Centre, where the Prince was able to speak to machine operators and witness first-hand some of Mazak's leading edge technology, including a VARIAXIS i-700 5-axis multi-tasking machine, manufacturing an artificial knee joint.

The visit culminated with a tour of Mazak's European manufacturing plant, one of the most advanced manufacturing plants in Europe which produces more than 1,000 machine tools every year, 85% of which are exported to continental Europe.

During the factory tour His Royal Highness was also able to speak with a number of employees from Mazak's apprenticeship scheme, including Rachel Lewis who was nominated for the Engineering Employers Federation West Midlands Apprentice of the Year during her apprenticeship.

Marcus Burton, Group Managing Director Europe at Yamazaki Mazak, commented on the visit: "Welcoming His Royal Highness, The Prince of Wales, to our European Headquarters in Worcester was a great honour.

"The Prince's long-standing interest and championing of young people very much corresponds with our own philosophy of developing the engineers of the future by offering an exciting and fulfilling career in manufacturing.

"During his tour The Prince was very impressed by our state-of-the-art manufacturing facility and the commitment shown to developing young engineering talent.

"The Prince of Wales also thanked Hiroyuki Yamazaki, our Deputy Group Managing Director, for his family's continued investment in British manufacturing and jobs."

Yamazaki Mazak is one of the world's leading manufacturers of computer numerically controlled (CNC) metal-cutting and laser processing machine tools. The company, which is privately owned by the Yamazaki family, employs more than 6,500 employees worldwide.