RSSBack

13 April 2008

Major order from major customer for Bystronic

Bystronic UK Limited has received an order from major Bystronic user Carlton Laser Services Limited for equipment valued at in-excess of £550,000 for a Bystronic Bystar 3015 laser equipped with 4.4kW resonator, rotary axis for tube cutting and the ByTrans automatic material load/unload facility.  Carlton Laser has recently been voted Supplier of the Year by the Confederation of British Metalworking.

Established in 1980 Carlton Laser Services Limited (CLS) is a progressive sub-contract company with a culture for investing in the latest technology.  Since 1995 the company has invested well in excess of £2.75M with Bystronic (including this latest machine) on a range of machines which include a smaller Bystronic Bystar and a high-speed Bysprint.  Both these lasers are linked to Bycell, a fully automated, compact laser manufacturing cell for up to two laser cutting systems. The sheet storage system at the centre, with over 50 storage racks, stores and administers the sheet stacks and the cut parts with skeleton. A placement/retrieval sheet table is used to place the sheet stacks and to retrieve the cut parts. The Bytrans cross loading and unloading system loads the shuttle table of the laser system with the requested non-machined metal sheets, using the vacuum lifter, and restores the cut sheets in the cassette. They are stored either as single sheets, as a job, or in stacks.

A Pullmax 6000 FC punching system is also linked to Bycell and a Bystronic PR press brake provides a folding facility.

Dennis Kent, the company’s managing director comments: “We believe that the formula for our success lies in the versatility and completeness of our manufacturing processes.  Our complimentary range of services means we can provide manufacturing to the highest quality from a single source, ensuring total control, competitive pricing and customer satisfaction.  The award from the Confederation of British Metalworking recognises the company for what we class as our normal, everyday  practice, we do not know any other way of doing business!
“Our success is founded upon major capital investment in plant and technology and in our workforce.  Bystronic is also a single-source supplier, manufacturing all the components on its’ laser systems and this latest investment will allow us to cut in even faster.  In time trials, cutting times were reduced by between 26 and 38 per cent depending on material and component.  The addition of the rotary axis will be of real benefit on our existing work but will also open up new opportunities to us.  It will take us further up the added value track – the heart of Carlton Laser’s business philosophy.”

When choosing this latest machine, Carlton Laser placed great emphasis on the handling system.  The latest ByTrans automatic load/unload system has been specifically designed for companies that produce predominately medium to large size batches.  It provides vibration free handling of the cut sheets and the choice of model is dependent on individual requirements and space constraints.  Production is said to increase by up to 50 per cent when a laser is equipped with ByTrans with typically only an extra machine investment of 20 per cent.

Mr Kent continues: “The Bystronic laser technology, coupled with the back-up and service provided by them during our 24-hour a day operation has enabled us to virtually guarantee our reliability and service to our customers. However, when choosing this new machine the handling system was of paramount importance.”

CLS’s current turnover of £4.1 M is achieved by a workforce of 76 operating on three sites, all of which are within a one-mile radius of each other. The company occupies a total shop floor working space of 33,000 square feet. The work force is split as follows: 55 per cent productive, 10 per cent sales and estimating 5 per cent administrative and 30 per   cent support staff.


Back to top