A direct approach to laser production

Held at the company’s headquarters in Worcester, the star laser offering at Mazak’s ‘LIVE’ open house was its new FG-220 DDL (Direct Diode Laser) machine designed for large structural industry applications.

This robust 6-axis machine can cut round, square and rectangular pipe as well as H I and L beams. It is made up of a material handling system which can automatically load and unload long materials, with the cutting head mechanism mounted at the centre incorporating a four-chuck design. It can cut pipe up to 8.16m in length and 220mm diameter and box sections up to 152.4mm square. Drilling and tapping options are also available.

The introduction of the machine is part of Mazak’s roll-out of its Optiplex DDL technology across its range of laser cutting machines.

Alan Mucklow managing director, Mazak UK and Ireland sales and service division comments: “Laser cutting is an important market for us. We enjoyed a lot of success last year thanks to the new technology we have brought to the market. DDL, which is now available for both 2D and 3D applications, is a real differentiator technology compared to what else is on the market. It uses diodes as the emitting source which means it’s faster, more efficient and can cut a wider range of materials. There are a lot of benefits in terms of productivity but also in terms of cost of ownership.”

Mazak claims that its Optiplex DDL lasers cut sheet metal on average 15% faster than traditional CO₂ or fibre lasers, with a better quality of cut. It also says that running costs are cheaper than other laser types with reduced power consumption due to 45% of the energy being drawn by the machine going to the cutting head, compared to 10% for CO₂ lasers and 35% traditional fibre.

A colour combination

The DDL system uses three coloured diodes (red, green and blue) combined to create the white light required for laser cutting. The system means the wavelength of the diffracted light is shorter meaning more energy is focused on cutting metal.

In one example of the FG-220 DDL machine’s cutting performance, where the laser head is moving in three dimensions and cutting mild steel box section 2.3mm thick, the DDL machine is able to complete the cuts in 207 seconds compared to 251 seconds with CO₂ or 219 with fibre. DDL laser is also able to cut a wider range of reflective materials such as copper and brass.

Discussing the FG-220 DDL Mr Mucklow says: “It is quite a unique machine in terms of where it’s positioned in the market for large scale industrial applications. We have sold these machines typically into markets such as architectural metalworking and gym equipment manufacturers, any industry that requires medium to large size fabrication of things like tubes, square sections, I beams etc. so more heavy duty, industrial applications.”

At the event it was also announced that Mazak Lasers had entered into an agreement with Southern Engineering Equipment (S.E.E.) to supply its Lissmac deburring and surface finishing machines and French built Jean Perrot press brakes in order to supply a full turnkey sheet metal processing packages. Both companies had examples of their machinery on show in Worcester.

Combined collaboration

The partners have been selected because their machines are all Industry 4.0 ready so can be easily integrated into a production environment with Mazak’s lasers.

Mr Mucklow comments: “The laser market for us is one of opportunity. It’s obviously a competitive market like machine tools, with some other big players – and that’s why we have been focusing on creating good partnerships with companies like S.E.E. and their Lissmac machines and Jean Perrot press brakes to provide complete packages. We want to offer the best solutions for our customers with the highest quality solutions at the right price. That’s our approach when we work with suppliers of complementary products.”

Commenting on the partnership, S.E.E. director John Spiers, said: “We are currently working on projects with Mazak revolving around Industry 4.0 in terms of integrating laser cutting, deburring and metal folding/bending, along with other solutions.

“This also includes automation and robotic loading and unloading; the partnership is really about offering a total solution to both Mazak and our own customers. Our Lissmac deburring and surface finishing machines have the ability to be integrated very easily with remotely controlled plug and play conveyor systems, Ethernet connections for offline programming and offsite diagnoses monitoring. They can also be linked to robot modules and vision systems.”

Sales engineer Matthieu Guinet from Jean Perrot who was also at the event added: “Mazak wanted press brake machines that are tailored for Industry 4.0 and can use the same Radan software. Jean Perrot press brakes have a CNC internet connection to provide service data and diagnostics. We have been making press brakes and other sheet metal machines for more than 60 years in France and all the components inside our machines are premium quality. Working with Mazak is a great opportunity for us to strengthen our profile in the global market.”

Machine tool show

Naturally, Mazak’s latest machine tool advances were also very evident at the open house in November, with increased automation one of the main themes. A VCN-530C vertical machining centre was on show working in conjunction with a robotic ‘Robojob’ loading and unloading system and a Variaxis i-300 AWC, high performance 5-axis machining centre with an integrated automation cell for both high and low volume production, were prominent exhibits. Another machine highlight was the Integrex i-400S one of Mazak’s latest multi-tasking machines.

Yet, despite the increasing number of done-in-one machine advances at the event, Mazak still has a strategy to offer as wide a range of machine tools to its customers as possible, according to Mr Mucklow.

“Mazak’s core strength has always been our ability to offer anything from a simple 2-axis turning centre, through to a full blown automated multi-tasking system,” he affirms. “That philosophy will continue because of the diversity of our customer base, not only in terms of the industry sectors they work in, but also in terms of their size. Many of our customers are SMEs that we want to help grow with us, so our product range has developed to make sure that continues.”

And Mr Mucklow was upbeat about the UK market, noting that demand for new machines is still strong.

“A lot of companies have large backlogs, particularly in sectors such as aerospace. Medical is another sector that is growing; automotive – certainly in motorsport and the high-performance sectors – is still very strong, as well as general subcontracting. Clearly, the Pound being weaker has made our customers more competitively globally in the short term.”

And what about Mazak’s technology combining both additive and subtractive processes on its machines?

“We are continuing to develop our hybrid machine range. We are now seeing a lot of interest in these machines and this technology for carrying out tests and trials of components. Our customers are beginning to understand what these machines are capable of, particularly with our wire-fed system. We are approaching a point where, with the expected lifecycle of machines, this technology will be considered carefully by our existing customers when they buy their next machines.”

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Yamazaki Mazak www.mazakeu.co.uk