NEWS


Scanlab buys Next Scan Technology


Scanlab has acquired Dutch company Next Scan Technology to further increase its stake in the polygon scanner market. Ultra short pulse (USP) lasers


operating at picosecond or femtosecond pulse durations are popular for precise micromachining, allowing for particularly fine, targeted material removal. To achieve industrial-scale productivity, USP lasers have to be combined with ultrafast scanners such as polygon scanners from companies like Scanlab and Raylase to position each pulse on the workpiece. Next Scan Technology offers the


Line Scan Engine (LSE) product family, a group of high-speed polygon scanners containing one dimensional large field f-theta optics that keep the spot focused on the substrate. It is anticipated that the acquisition


will lead to smart cross-over designs using galvo, polygon and mirror f-theta technologys. Under the new agreement, Next


Scan Technology and its 10 employees will retain its operational site in Evergem, near Ghent, Belgium. ‘We see great potential in the


polygon scanner market, so it’s natural to position ourselves here accordingly. Next Scan Technology’s expertise suits our approach well and our products complement each other superbly,’ said Scanlab CEO Georg Hofner.


BIRMINGHAM FACTORY FIVE TIMES MORE PRODUCTIVE WITH FIBRE LASER


A factory in Birmingham, UK has increased productivity and reduced costs by installing a 3kW fibre laser cutting machine to take over from a CO2


laser system. The Witton, Birmingham factory


of Wheeler Fabrications was able to cut 125 units from 1.5mm and 3mm stainless steel for oil rig safety lights in six hours with the new fibre laser, a job that would have taken four days on the previous CO2


system,


according to Mark Ashford, the company’s production manager. Ashford said: ‘Eighty per cent of


our work here involves sheet between 1mm and 3mm thick, which is ideal for extracting maximum benefit from fibre laser cutting.’ The laser is a 3kW Bystronic


BySprint Fiber 3015, which Ashford said is ‘five times faster at profiling components than the machine that it replaced’. ‘It is also significantly less


expensive to run,’ he added, ‘as it pulls less power and does not require costly servicing of optics. Neither do we have to buy bottles of


The Wheeler Fabrications factory installed a 3kW fibre laser cutting machine to replace a CO2


system helium or CO2 resonator gas


anymore.’ Since the fibre laser cutting


machine was installed, the subcontractor has won new business, including a 1.5 metre long, 6mm thick brass grille for Birmingham Repertory Theatre, a job that would have been


impossible on the CO2 laser. Another recently completed


contract that would previously have been uneconomical due to the slowness of the old laser machine was the production of 1,200 electrical cabinets from 1.2mm thick Zintec in three variants for the construction industry.


Bystronic


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