When Haas Automation introduced its first machining centre - the VF-1 - in 1988, it was an industry milestone: the first American-built vertical machining center (VMC) to sell for less than $50,000 - a price unheard of at the time. The Haas VF-1 quickly became the industry benchmark for affordable CNC technology.

Earlier this year, Haas Automation achieved yet another milestone: the production of the 125,000th Haas CNC machine tool: Machine number 125,000 - a 2012 VF-1 bound for a customer in the Philippines.

It is fitting that the 125,000th Haas machine was a VF-1, as it is the model that began the Haas story nearly 25 years ago. A simple comparison of that first VF-1 to the modern version of the same machine proves how far Haas has come, and how much value a Haas machine provides.

When Haas introduced the VF-1 in 1988 at IMTS in Chicago, the suggested retail price was $49,900. Adjusting for inflation, that's equivalent to about $94,880 in 2011 dollars!* The machine featured 508 x 406 x 508 mm travels, a 5.5 kW (peak) spindle motor, speeds to 5000 rpm, brush-style servomotors on all axes, 12 m/min rapids, a 16-tool ATC, and the Haas CNC control, which featured a whopping 128 K of program memory, and a maximum processing speed of 20 blocks per second. Additional options were essentially non-existent.

Today's VF-1 is easily 10 times the machine as its 1988 namesake, yet its base price is only $45,995, or about $24,190 in 1988 dollars. The VF-1 still has travels of 508 x 406 x 508 mm but now features a 22 kW (peak) spindle with a high-performance vector drive, speeds to 8100 rpm standard, brushless servos on all axes, 25m/min rapids, a 20-tool ATC, and the Haas control, which now features 1 MB of program memory (8 times the 1988 figure) and provides processing speeds up to 1000 blocks per second (or 50 times faster than in 1988). And that's the base model machine. A wide selection of high-productivity options is available to boost performance - and value - even further.

Haas Automation currently manufactures a complete line of CNC vertical machining centers, horizontal machining centers, CNC lathes and rotary products. The company also builds a variety of specialty machines, including 5-axis machining centers, mold making machining centers, toolroom machines, and gantry routers.

All Haas products are built in the company's 1-million-square-foot manufacturing facility in Southern California, and distributed through a worldwide network of Haas Factory Outlets (HFOs) that provide the industry's best sales, service and support.

*US dollar equivalents calculated using inflation conversion factors published January 19, 2012, by the US Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics.