INDUSTRY NEWS SHEET METAL
Swapping from CO2 to fibre laser profiling boosts sheet metalworking productivity
Bystronic has 34 service engineers in the UK, so one can be on-site the same day if needed
Justin Sanders, MMP’s production control manager, in front of the BySprint Fiber 3015 at Desford. L
eicestershire sheet metal subcontractor, Midland Metal Products (MMP), bought a Bystronic CO2 laser profiler in 2005 to replace three smaller laser cutters. In May this year (2014), the firm part- exchanged the CO2 machine for a fibre laser version of identical capacity from the same supplier. The new machine is twice as
fast when cutting zinc-coated and uncoated mild steel up to 3 mm thick, doubling productivity when processing those materials. As 90 per cent of throughput
at the factory is mild steel and 80 per cent of material is 5 mm gauge or lower, the impact of the new 3 kW BySprint Fiber 3015 has been dramatic. Stainless steel and aluminium sheet is also being cut more efficiently up to the machine’s maximum capacity of 3 metres by 1.5 metres. Productivity has been boosted
even at 5 mm, although material thicker than that can normally be machined faster on a CO2
18 IMT October/November 2014
machine, certainly when piercing and cutting in a straight line. Nevertheless, the fibre laser is able to tackle heavier gauges with ease and the small time penalty is far outweighed by the higher speeds when processing thinner materials. Justin Sanders, production
control manager at MMP, said, “We had been watching carefully the progress of fibre laser technology since 2012 and were monitoring the equipment on offer from four major OEMs. “The decision was taken to
return to Bystronic for the latest purchase due to the previous CO2 machine’s reliability, the speed and price of the BySprint fibre laser profiler, and the successful cutting trials carried out at Bystronic’s technical centre in Coventry.” The original CO2 laser was
installed with an integrated ByTrans 3015 automatic load / unload system, which in turn was interfaced with a Remmert computer controlled sheet metal storage system. This equipment
has been linked to the new fibre machine to form a similar, automatic cell, complete with the original nitrogen generation plant. As the material being cut is thin, cycle time per sheet is relatively short. Even so, two to three hours’ lights-out production is gained every day. The Desford factory, near Leicester, operates around the clock on weekdays and for 12 hours at weekends. Business at
the 125-employee firm has been growing steadily over the past 18 months. It is winning a new customer every month on average and demand is predicted to increase year on year. Keeping prices competitive
and at the same time maintaining quality is crucial in the metal sheet sector. All customers are looking for good value, whether they are mobile rock crusher manufacturers, suppliers of goals for various sports, security system specialists, machine builders, access equipment producers or supermarkets looking for an electronic point-of-sale stand. MMP supplies this diverse range of products and fabrications in small to medium volumes of less
Another view of the BySprint Fiber 3015.
www.internationalmetaltube.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32