Sheffield-based The Laser Cutting Co. has invested almost £1 million in the latest Adige Lasertube processing system from BLM Group. The investment will provide customers with greater production security and also cost-effective manufacture of complex tube components.
The Laser Cutting Co provides a customer focused sub contract laser cutting service delivering tubular, open sections and flat metal parts on a daily basis to customers throughout the UK; with a rolling programme of investment to ensure that its production capabilities are able to meet the demands of its customers, which expect rapid response 24 hours per day. The Adige LT8 has been brought in to replace a competitor’s tube laser and will complement the two existing Adige Lasertube machines, two flatbed lasers and one six-axis tube laser already on-site.
Established in 1981 The Laser Cutting Co has developed a reputation as a one-stop-shop for laser cutting, whether tube or flat sheet, it also provides customers with secondary operations such as bending and sub-assembly. However, it is the potential of Tubelaser where Managing Director, Jon Day, sees significant growth for the business.
“We are convinced that there are major cost savings that customers can make by switching their production to make use of our Adige Tubelaser machines. By virtue of the process, many jobs are self-jigging which reduces the secondary fabrication times. This also has the knock on effect of reducing the reliance on highly skilled welders and fabricators, as the accuracy of the laser cut parts, to tolerances of 0.005”, allows complex joints to be welded easily and consistently.”
The Adige LT8 Tubelaser has only been installed at The Laser Cutting Co. for a matter of a few weeks, but already it is in full production and generating significant savings over the competitor machine that it replaced. In one particular case a cycle time reduction of more than 40 per cent was witnessed.
“The performance of this machine is extremely positive and justifies the investment we have made, we are confident that the additional security of supply of this increased performance and capacity will ensure that customers will take advantage of this new capability. We see the Adige LT8 Lasertube as the ultimate technology in processing tube and while it is the most complex machine we have installed, it is also among the easiest to use due to the simplicity and intuitive nature of the control system,” says Jon Day.
Further enhancing the productivity of the Adige LT8 is the dual independent loading capability; an automatic bundle loader with a carrying capacity of up to 5000kg. at the rear of the machine supplemented by a single bar automatic loader at the front of the machine. The Siemens Touch screen control system also features cost saving elements, such as BLM’s automatic nesting software and the ability to minimise bar end scrap, both of which allow the user to fully maximise the available material with minimal waste.
Furthermore, the system allows production runs that feature a mix of components from the same tube, or switching batch runs in process, all of which are controlled automatically by the software.
“Even after many years of laser tube processing there is still a huge potential market for the benefits that it brings, we continue to introduce customers to these benefits and the associated cost savings that can be achieved, when compared to the more traditional, multiple operation, processes that are needed without a tube laser capacity. With the Adige LT8 Lasertube we can combine operations such as sawing, drilling, milling, deburring, slotting, punching and mitre cutting into a single process; instantly reducing manufacturing costs and lead-time for customers. “The addition of the new Adige LT8 Lasertube means we now have the latest technology, and with our existing Adige laser tube machines we are better placed to provide reliability and capacity to our customers.”
For more information on our laser cutting capabilities, or to request a quote, please visit our contact page.
