The Laser Cutting Co (TLCC) has taken delivery of a new Trumpf TruLaser Tube 7000 at its Sheffield facility.

This customer-focused supplier of subcontract laser cutting services will use the machine, which is currently being commissioned, to achieve further growth as part of its progressive five-year plan. Moreover, with TLCC already producing flat sheet-metal ventilator parts as part of the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, the new TruLaser Tube is helping the company bid competitively for tube-based parts needed for the same purpose.
“We’re heavily focussed on processing innovative tube design, so our investment in the Trumpf TruLaser Tube 7000 will further enhance our capability and capacity in this area,” says director Charlie Day. “Although we’re a subcontractor, our customer slogan is ‘your partner in production’, where we can add considerable value at the design stage. The Trumpf machine will support our efforts in this area, particularly with six-axis 3D cutting and the flow drill and tapping attachment.”
Smart Design Production is the value-added aspect of TLCC’s business, an initiative that has seen the company deliver production cost savings for customers of up to 50% in some instances. Although laser tube cutting can replace conventional machining processes such as drilling, sawing and milling, it is also now possible to perform threading operations in-cycle, replacing weak and time-consuming fixings such as nuts or rivets.
In the first machining step, the flow drill produces an extrusion that is followed by the cutting of a heavy-duty thread. Sensors monitor the process and alert the operator if a tool breaks, for example.
Advantages such as the flow drill will provide a competitive edge in many regards, not least when trying to win work required by the healthcare sector as it looks to boost capacity due to coronavirus.
For further information www.uk.trumpf.com

Birmingham-based Finish Architectural has used its investment in the latest automated punching and laser-cutting technology from Amada to double the size of its business over the past five years.

Finish Architectural, which generates turnover of circa £5.5m, manufactures products that include window cills and pods, copings, rain-screen systems, facade steel supports, steel bracketry, flashings, perforated sheet, punched art, louvre systems, and bespoke pressings – essentially any construction-related fabricated item.
“In 2015 we bought our first automated machine, and have doubled in size since then,” states operations director Terry Turner. “Automation removes manual input and provides a lot more control over our operational efficiency.”
The shift to automation began with the arrival of an Amada EM-ZR B servo-electric turret punch press that benefits from an ASLIII MP300/40 automated tower loading system and automatic part picker. Two years later, in 2017, an Amada LCG-AJ 4kW fibre laser-cutting machine was installed featuring an AS LUL automated load-unload system.
“These investments were purposely designed to upgrade our facility and bring automation online,” says Turner. “We knew that automation would unlock the potential growth we had in the business.”
As well as a host of aluminium parts, the laser cutter is also used to process mild steel sheet, sometimes up to 15 mm thick. The impact of the automated Amada machines on business at Finish Architectural cannot be overstated. In 2015, the company operated a single-shift pattern, but by 2018 had switched to 24-hour operations, with the machines running fully throughout the weekends.
“Amada have held our hand and been there every step of the way, to make sure that we develop and grow the business around the automated machines,” concludes Turner. “The Amada support has been fantastic from the start.”
For further information www.amada.eu

Automated material flow offers manufacturers significant time and cost savings.

With this in mind, Kasto has introduced a new system for efficiently transferring material automatically between its sheet-metal storage towers and flat-bed processing plant, such as laser-cutting machines and turret punch presses. The system enables minimally attended production, achieves high throughput speeds and relieves staff of the laborious and potentially risky task of handling large metal sheets.
The system comprises two sheet manipulators suspended from a gantry projecting from the storage tower and two pick-and-place tables below. These tables are positioned side by side at the same distance apart as the manipulators; the table nearer the tower being a similar distance from it and fixed to the floor. The second (shuttle) table has a slatted surface and is rail-mounted, allowing it to travel to a production area and back.
Each manipulator operates differently in that the one closer to the tower uses an array of suction cups to hold the sheet during lifting and lowering, whereas the other employs a rake-type gripper which opens so that the rake tips move further apart than the width of the sheet, allowing it to be lifted from underneath off the slatted shuttle table after the rakes have closed. Regarding motion, the manipulators always move horizontally in unison and vertically in opposite directions.
Kasto’s system is not designed to return the sheet containing laser-cut or punched components back into the storage tower, although such fully-automatic operation can be supplied by the company with double pick-and-place stations, and with manipulators moving independently – one above the other.
For further information www.kasto.com

Kings Lynn-based Optima Metal Services has expanded its offer with a £3m investment in a dedicated facility to house a LaserTube LT8 3D tube laser from BLM Group.

Says Optima’s operations manager Andy Knowles: “The BLM LaserTube was commissioned in January with the expectation that it will generate 10% of the company’s turnover in its first year. Part of our work now is to explain to customers exactly what this machine can do.”
BLM’s LaserTube LT8 can cut tube up to 240 mm diameter (virtually any tube profile can be processed) and up to 12.5 m
in length. The maximum unload length is 8.5 m, while the maximum tube weight that can be profiled is 40 kg/m. In addition, the machine can be specified with either a 3.5 kW CO2, or 3 or 4 kW fibre laser source, delivered through a 3D tilt cutting head.
Along with the mechanical specification, it was BLM’s use of software to enhance the manufacturing process that was key in helping Optima make the final investment decision.
“BLM Artube software is excellent and extremely flexible,” says laser tube manager Clyde Stratton. “We particularly like the way we can import a SolidWorks model and see it separated it into individual parts for production, on the fly. This saves lots of time and effort and, again, adds value for customers.”
The versatility or Artube allows the user to quickly add, edit or remove features from an imported drawing, while it also offers suggestions for jointing techniques.
“Our view is that if we are going to invest, we will not cut corners and definitely won’t settle for second best; it simply has to be right for us and our customers,” concludes Knowles.
For further information www.blmgroup.com

Redruth-based Partridge Ventilation, a specialist in high-end kitchen ventilation systems, has installed an automated Amada laser cutting machine in order to take its business to the next level. Replacing a plasma cutter, the Amada machine has made a vast difference to throughput rates.

With three generations of the Partridge family designing and installing kitchen ventilation systems, the company possesses a wealth of knowledge that vastly exceeds its competitors.
With its mind made up, Partridge Ventilation duly acquired a pre-owned and fully refurbished Amada LC-3015F1 laser cutter with MPF automation system.
“In short, our business is growing, which is why we decided to upgrade our sheet metal production capabilities,” states one of the company’s project managers, Oliver Partridge. “We were running machines such as a guillotine and a plasma cutter. Although satisfactory in terms of output, we knew that an injection of the latest technology would provide a springboard for our business.”
Partridge Ventilation reviewed various potential suppliers of profiling technologies over a period of 12-18 months, leaving no stone unturned.
“We examined the market thoroughly and found Amada to be on another level,” says Partridge. “In particular, the Amada care package was superior to others, while the cut edge produced by our Amada laser is far better than our previous plasma-cutting method. Plasma cutting produced burrs – that we would have to remove – which are simply not present with laser cutting.”
With the automated Amada LC-3015F1 now in place, standard parts such as tops and filter banks are profiled in advance and stored flat, ready to bend whenever necessary. As a result, lead times are minimised, which in turn keeps customers happy.
For further information www.amada.co.uk