Ficep brings high-power laser cutter to UK

A supplier of structural steel and plate processing equipment, Ficep UK, is introducing Cutlite Penta’s state-of-the-art Plus laser system for metal cutting with resonators up to 30kW.Offering a working area of up to 15 x 3m and capability for processing stainless steel and mild steel up to 50mm, the Plus is a powerful option for applications involving heavy engineering.

According to Ficep, linear motor drive technology provides highly responsive dynamics, enabling high productivity even on extremely complex geometries, while the machine’s low energy consumption makes it an effective solution in productive and environmental terms.

The smooth dynamics of the cutter head delivers cuts with low pressure, resulting in a considerable saving in manufacturing costs. Furthermore, the Evo 3 cutting head is equipped with a contact-free capacitive sensor and its optional bevel head can rotate up to 45°in both cutting directions.

Says Chris Berriman, Ficep UK sales director: “Cutlite Penta’s Plus and heavy-duty range of laser systems complements our portfolio of cutting systems and allows us to meet the needs of metal processors who require a system that can cut thick capacity steel at a greater speed with high levels of accuracy.”

He continues: “One of the laser’s many strengths is its unique ability to focus power into a very small area, which makes it the ultimate technology in metal cutting accuracy and quality. The Plus is the go-to laser cutting option when heavy engineering requires a quality finish and when fast processing speed is vital.”
For further information www.ficep.co.uk

New tube laser eliminates outsourcing at Lasercell

The arrival of a new Trumpf TruLaser Tube 3000 Fiber at Salisbury-based lasercell has allowed the company to eliminate the cost of previously outsourcing its tube laser cutting requirements. Alongside the associated reduction in lead time, Lasercell’s new in-house capability also means the company can now design many parts more efficiently.

It was impressive growth over the past decade prompted Lasercell to investigate the potential for an in-house tube laser facility. The company looked at a few major manufacturers of tube laser machines before drawing up a shortlist of two.

After a comprehensive assessment, the company opted for the Trumpf TruLaser Tube 3000 Fiber, a machine that can accommodate tube diameters up to 152mm and process mild steel up to 8mm thick, stainless steel and aluminium up to 6mm, and copper and brass up to 4mm. The 3kW machine acquired by Lasercell, which is the first of its type in the UK, includes a 3D cutting head and LoadMaster Tube automation with bundle space for up to 4 tonnes of unprocessed material.

“Perhaps the most influential reason behind our choice was Trumpf’s Programming Tube 3D software, which was superior to that of the other potential supplier,” says one of three company directors Kieran Bernstein.“With Programming Tube, we quickly and intuitively create NC programs. The software offers flexible data import procedures and efficient design, with step-by-step support.”

He continues: “Although we’ve been really busy, the machine is so quick that keeping it fed can sometimes be a challenge. As well as eliminating the need to outsource our tube laser work, reducing lead times and designing parts more efficiently, the new machine gives us a unique selling point when promoting our services.”
For further information www.trumpf.com

TLM expandsrangewith green laser markers

The latest addition to TLM’s range, from partner Foba Laser, is a range of green lasers, the main benefits of which include a significant increase in marking speed and marking quality on materials that previously did not present the optimum marking clarity or contrast when using UV or fibre lasers.

Materials now suitable for processing using this technology include special plastics such as UHMWPE, HDPE and PMMA, for which additives may no longer be necessary when using a green laser. Other materials where marking quality will see a significant increase include white and transparent plastics in medical technology applications, combined material parts in the automotive sector, and highly reflective metals, glass or other shiny substrates.

Foba’s V.0071-gr and FOBA V.0141-gr green laser marking systems, at 532 nm wavelength, close the gap between UV and fibre laser markers, at 355 nm and 1064 nm, respectively. The combination of relatively high laser power and a vanadate source extends the areas of application while enabling higher speeds.

Either 7 or 14 W laser power options are available for the new marking laser. With a broad range of interfaces available and five possible marking field sizes, the new lasers offer a flexible solution to a wide range of applications. A further benefit is the fact that the lifetime of Foba’s green laser vanadate laser source is twice that of a UV laser source, which significantly reduces operational and ownership costs.

The new green laser marking systems can also take advantage of Foba’s laser marking workflow with camera and mark alignment software.
For further information www.tlm-laser.com

MEDICAL SUBCONTRACTOR BUILDS SUCCESS WITH ETG

Founded in January 2021, Machinelab Ltd was set up when entrepreneur Sean Kehoe identified a gap in the market for a subcontract manufacturing business. Kehoe started a company that could provide everything from prototyping, design and machining,through bespoke automation projects, fixture design and manufacture, to consultation, 3D printing, reverse engineering and even post-project support. However, the Machinelab founder recognised that the fundamentals of the business needed to focus on lead time, pricing and quality – all aspects the company is achieving with the support of the Engineering Technology Group (ETG) Ireland. The company has recently invested in a Mitsubishi MV1200S wire EDM machine,quickly followed by a Nakamura-Tome AS200LYMT turn-mill centre.

Located in Wexford, the rapidly growing business now employs 17 staff. This rapid rise has come from the company’s ability to offer a full lifecycle design and manufacturing service for custom-built parts and assemblies required by pharmaceutical and medical device companies and other highly regulated industries. Machinelab recently moved to a new 15,000sqft facility and, with sufficient space to expand, the company installed the Mitsubishi MV1200S wire EDM machine.

Discussing the company’s rapid ascension to success, Kehoe says: “As an engineer with a background in machine, assembly line and jig and fixture design and build, I spotted an opportunity to deliver a level of service and quality beyond that of existing manufacturers. In Ireland, such a niche service and expertise has been lacking in the continually expanding medical and pharmaceutical industry.This gave our fledgling business a window of opportunity and we’ve fully embraced it.”

Starting out of nothing more than a shed with a router, Kehoe initially made medical vial trays and other components for the medical industry on a routing machine. From there, the company progressed to machining centres.

“I initially bought a router, as it was all I could afford,” admits Kehoe.“I then bought a few three-axis VMCs, a lathe, a surface grinder and a spark-erosion machine; some of these were pre-owned models. Just before Christmas, I bought a used ETG Vulcan 610L VMC [new Vulcan machines are available from ETG] and I was thoroughly impressed. We have several machining centres from a reputable leading brand and found the Vulcan VMC to be far more robust and rigid. The machine has a much better build quality and stability, along with a high-pressure through-coolant facility and a much faster tool changer.All-round, it’s a much better machine. We would certainly buy another.”

With the Vulcan came an introduction to ETG Ireland for service requirements. So, when the company was looking for a wire-erosion machine for precision holemaking and profiling, the company once again turned to ETG Ireland.

“We already had an older EDM machine, but needed exceptional levels of precision,” says Kehoe.“Instead of looking around the market, we asked our industry contacts, competitors and customers about the technology they used; they all recommended Mitsubishi. We ordered the Mitsubishi MV1200S and it was delivered just after Christmas.”

As well as production line projects, the company also manufactures mould tools and components from brass, stainless steel and D2 steel which require a high number of precision holes from 0.3 to 3mm diameter that can be up to 30xD. This demand was creating an issue with part scrapping and excessive set-ups.

“Some of these parts have very tight tolerances and for us to wire a 0.3mm diameter hole on our existing machine, we would have to drill at 0.27mm diameter initially,” explains Kehoe.“The issue here was broken drills and frequently scrapped parts. We were even drilling the holes from both sides of the part on our five-axis machining centres to evade potential drill breakages. We had a lot of parts that would need to be re-set, creating an overall production time of up to six hours. By using the Mitsubishi MV1200S, we can now process a six-hour job in less than 40 minutes. What we’re finding is that we can pre-drill small holes with limited precision – and then wire the holes to a tolerance of tighter than 5µm. We’re EDM profiling over 40 high-precision small holes every month, so the Mitsubishi is saving us a lot of time already.”

Another reason the Irish manufacturer invested in the Mitsubishi MV1200S EDM was for the profiling of components, something that could alleviate capacity bottlenecks on other machines.

“A lot of our machining is small runs of stainless to hard steel parts in quantities of 2 to 5-off,” says Kehoe.“The Mitsubishi MV1200S can be quickly set-up to profile these challenging parts, freeing-up capacity on our five-axis machining centres. Additionally, the Mitsubishi MV1200S can provide a level of precision beyond that of our other machines. We can profile parts to a tolerance of 4 µm with a surface finish of 0.2 to 0.4 Ra, again exceeding the surface finishes of our other machines.”

By purchasing the Mitsubishi MV1200S, Machinelab has improved its precision and surface finishes on components, reduced set-up times and eliminated scrap on particularly challenging parts that require small holes and improved throughput.

“We can set up the EDM and leave it to run while a machine operator is tending to other machines,” explains Kehoe.“The running cost of the EDM is minimal compared with a machining centre consuming lots of tools through cutting hard parts; it complements our machining department perfectly. The longer we have the machine, the more applications we find for it. As a relatively new company, ETG Ireland has offered us an excellent finance package that has made the Mitsubishi purchase possible. The terms are so favourable for start-up companies that we’ve just ordered another machine.”

At the end of March, Machinelab placed an order for a Nakamura-Tome AS200LYMT, which is now in situ.

Says Kehoe: “We have a semi-CNC turning centre and while it’s a capable machine, it cannot provide the precision or productivity we require for the increasing upturn in turning work. We have one regular part that requires 5 µm concentricity over the 5-inch length of the component. Our existing machine struggles with this, leaving us with excessive operator intervention to remain within tolerance.”

He adds: “The Nakamura AS200LYMT turning centre will easily meet our precision requirements. With driven tooling capability, we’ll be looking for this machine to take capacity from our milling department – as the Mitsubishi has. We were transferring jobs from the lathe to the mill and vice-versa for secondary operations. The Nakamura AS200LYMT will eliminate this bottleneck from our business. ETG Ireland are also able to offer us a full turnkey solution to our projects, something that we recently discovered in purchasing the Nakamura Tome. In addition, ETG has the right staff in Ireland, be it sales or technical service, where other companies would have support only from the UK.”
For further information www.engtechgroup.com

Wippro invests in Salvagnini production line

With the investment in a new Salvagnini S4 + P4 production line, Wippro GmbH, a specialist in attic ladders and door systems, is paving the way for future success. Equipped with an upstream single-sheet store-tower and a stacking robot, the system punches, bends and optimally sorts metal sheet for subsequent processes in a fully automatic manner. This new flexible processing solution makes economic batch size 1 production a reality.

“We’ve been working with a punching-bending combination S4 + P4 from Salvagnini since 1998, providing excellent service,” explains managing partner Robert Wipplinger. “The extremely flexible and fully-automated production concept was the reason we decided again in favour of Salvagnini’s S4+P4 production line.Furthermore, the co-operation with Salvagnini has always worked smoothly.”

Based on Salvagnini‘s MD sheet metal storetower, the S4 punching machine is fed automatically with single sheets from the rows of trays. Thanks to fully automated multi-press punching up to the finished part head in combination with the angle shears, the machine punches parts individually. Subsequently, the MCU device brings parts into the correct position for the P4 panel bender.

Wipplinger is extremely excited about the high degree of flexibility provided on the Salvagnini line: “We have no longer to think about which parts will be scheduled subsequently in the line,” he says.“Depending on the order, the system retrieves the corresponding material with the respective sheet thickness out of the storage tower and manufactures the part without any manual set up in a completely automatic manner and sorts them onto pallets. I call this the perfection of batch size 1 production.”
For further information www.salvagninigroup.com