New machine reduces production from days to hours

, dramatically raising productivity and product consistency.

When the company was visited in November 2015, a job on the 3kW Bystronic BySprint Fiber 3015 was completed in under six hours. It involved producing 125 units from 1.5mm and 3mm stainless steel sheet for oil rig safety lights. Production manager Mark Ashford said that the contract would have taken four days to finish on the previous CO₂ laser, which in any case would have struggled to cut the thicker material.

He comments: “80% of our work here involves sheet between 1mm and 3mm thick, which is ideal for extracting maximum benefit from fibre laser cutting. The BySprint Fiber machine, due to a combination of its technology and the high power of the laser, is five times faster at profiling components than the machine that it replaced.

“It is also significantly less expensive to run, as it pulls less power and does not require costly servicing of optics which means we can manufacture more economically, allowing us to pass on cost reductions to our customers.”

Another advantage of fibre laser cutting is its ability to machine reflective materials. Copper, brass, aluminium and stainless steel sheet up to 3m by 1.5m in various thicknesses from 0.5mm to 6mm are processed without difficulty.

Established 35 years ago by owner Bryan Wheeler as a factory maintenance firm serving large companies in the area such as Dunlop and Smith & Nephew, Wheeler Fabrications gradually moved into sheet metal working. Towards the end of the 1990s the company installed a turret punch press that is still in operation and an Edwards Pearson press brake (now part of Bystronic). A move from a nearby unit into its present premises in 2013 trebled the floor area available for production and provided additional space for installation of the Bysprint Fiber 3015.

Today, the company provides a broad range of industries with design consultancy followed by comprehensive metal cutting, folding and fabrication services, from prototyping through low volume runs to production quantities. The petrochemical, defence, automotive, food, hygiene, shopfitting, lighting and furniture sectors are among those served. Four fifths of sheet metal output is folded, indicating that the firm is very much at the high value end of the business. Mr Ashford continues: “We spent 18 months researching the market and comparing different fibre laser cutting machines. Several potential suppliers were given a trial to productionise a difficult component. Bystronic gave the best response from its technical centre in Coventry and the company has continued to provide good applications support.

“Another benefit is the seamless interaction of the company's Bysoft 7 nesting and 2D programming software not only with its own machine control but also with our Radan 3D modelling CAD/CAM software. Bysoft has an integral seat of SolidWorks CAD so we could also design components in that environment if we chose to.”

An increasing number of Wheeler Fabrication's customers are opting for components to be made out of pre-plated materials as the finishing services it buys in are becoming more and more expensive. Partly with minimising damage to these materials in mind and also to avoid the arduous job of physically handling sheets onto the Bystronic machine, the BySprint Fiber machine was supplied with a ByLoader 3015.

Since the fibre laser cutting machine was installed it has resulted in the subcontractor winning a lot of new business. A 1.5m long, 6mm thick brass grille has just been produced for Birmingham Repertory Theatre, a job that would have been impossible on the CO₂ laser.

BYSTRONIC
www.bystronic.com