Whoever takes a closer look at the machine shop of ’t Veer will see that HACO is its main supplier of machinery. Ardooie-based ‘t Veer started in 1984 with a handful of employees, but that number has since grown to over 600. The metal workshop began operations in 1988 with only a few metalworking machines.
“As the company expanded, we couldn’t meet increasing demands in certain areas of the metalworking process,” states production manager Yves Verhaeghe. “For instance, we soon reached full capacity on our two punching machines. To expand capacity we considered both a new punching machine and a laser cutting machine. At the time, the CO2 lasers were quite expensive but fibre laser machines opened new perspectives. In April 2022 we replaced our project for a new punching machine by instead investing in a HFL 4020E-22EQ from HACO, a fibre laser machine that cuts both plate and tube.”
He continues: “With the tube laser we can now do our pipework in-house, which is much more efficient. In the past we already performed drilling activities on pipes, but this was far more complex and time consuming. At different diameters on the same workpiece we first had to make holes with one diameter drill and then change the drill diameter for the other diameter. In contrast, our HACO tube laser can operate autonomously and complete different diameters in one cycle. Furthermore, our employees no longer have to drill the holes themselves, which gives them the opportunity to focus on post-processing.
“We still use our other punching machine,” says Verhaeghe. “For each job we choose the most efficient processing method. We put smaller pieces on the punching machine, on which they are easier to load and unload. The larger sheet metal work we put on the HACO fibre laser.”
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