Olicana Products has for many years prided itself on providing a top-quality, high-volume, CNC tube laser cutting and bending service for customers involved in the manufacture of mainly commercial seating, but also medical, education and bathroom products. The only items bought in were flat metal components that constitute a relatively small part of most fabrications. However,even that function has now been integrated into the Ilkley, Yorkshire factory with the installation of an LS7 flat-bed, fibre-laser cutting machine from BLM Group UK.
Says Stephen Thorpe, Olicana’s technical director: “The BLM LS7 was selected due to it being a top-class machine, coupled with the fact that we’ve been using tube bending machines from BLM since 2001 and been very satisfied with both the equipment and the service they provide.”
Control over flat sheet metal parts supply to the fabrication and assembly department has been improved with the installation of the 6 kW BLM LS7 fibre-laser cutting centre. Savings in subcontract costs are predicted to amortise the investment quickly.
Thorpe appreciates the modern features of the machine, including: automatic sheet position sensing and alignment with the programmed path; active nozzle centring to maintain productivity, particularly during unattended operation; and active zoom. The latter changes the diameter of the laser beam to optimise cut quality and speed according to the gauge of sheet in-cut.
Similar steel materials – mild, high-tensile and stainless – are laser-profiled into components nested across 2.5 x 1.25 m sheets. Tolerances of 50 µm are achieved. The outgoing movement of the table carrying the cut parts and skeleton, and the movement of the incoming table carrying a fresh sheet, are simultaneous. Table exchange is completed in under 9 seconds.
More information www.blmgroup.com
