All businesses rely on productivity and efficiency to keep them successful. When it comes to processing metals speed and accuracy are key components. We’ve already talked about how fiber lasers knock CO2 lasers out of the park when it comes to piercing speed, cut rates, and increased power output but what does that mean for your business?
Increased cutting speeds for greater throughput
With faster piercing and cutting speeds than CO2 lasers, especially when it comes to thinner materials, fiber lasers are making huge strides in the metal fabrication world. A 4.0KW fiber laser machine can straight line cut 1 mm mild, galvanized, or stainless steel three times faster than a similarly powered CO2 machine and cut 2 mm materials twice as fast.
As the industry continues to produce more powerful machines the cutting speeds rapidly increase. One of the most powerful fiber lasers on the market has a 12,000W IPG resonator – Eagle Fiber Lasers unveiled this innovation in 2016 and is one of two machine builders with a machine this powerful at the time of writing. With the potential to cut 16 GA mild steel at a rate of 2600 IPM, the incredible power in this version is a huge step up from typical 6,000W machines. Faster processing times mean more parts per hour which can make a huge impact on your business’ bottom line.
But what if it’s too fast?
We have even begun to hear that fiber lasers are sometimes too fast and operators can’t keep up with the increase in production! This is where automation comes in. Fitting your shop with the right automation solutions can keep everything running smoothly no matter how fast you’re processing materials. Plus, automation can reduce man power and remove safety concerns that can go along with manual processes. We can help find the right automation solution for your shop. Contact us for a consultation.
A well built machine delivers great accuracy
Not only do Fiber lasers provide considerable speed benefits but newer machine tool technology will actually deliver greater precision along with those cut speeds. This all depends, however, on machine design and not all fiber lasers are created equal. For example, Eagle Fiber Lasers are designed with a rigid concrete-polymer frame. This combined with the embedded encoders in the linear drives ensures a high level of accuracy. When it comes to precision it’s a good idea to look into how the machine is built and how it will work with the parts you’re processing.
Your fabrication shop’s Bottom line?
The measure of success for every fabricator is quality production and, of course, profits. Increased cutting speed means a boost in productivity; by processing faster you increase throughput. Even shaving small amounts of time off each process can add up at the end of a day, week, and month. Processing parts faster and with greater accuracy with fiber lasers can mean big things for your bottom line and customer satisfaction – making everyone happy. Isn’t that what it’s all about?
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