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3 December 2012

The UK's first trulaser 1030 fiber

The desire to bring thin sheet laser cutting in-house led the East Anglian subcontractor, Electronic Metalwork Services (EMS), to think outside the box. Rather than upgrade to a newer version of its existing CO2 laser, the company chose a TRUMPF TruLaser 1030 fiber, fibre-guided solid state laser. And it has the distinction of being the first of this model to be installed in the UK.

The overriding factors in favour of this brand new machine were many. As well as eliminating EMS’s reliance on other subcontractors for ferrous and non-ferrous thin sheet cutting, the TruLaser 1030 fiber promised high productivity, better parts quality and also overcame shop floor space constraints thanks to its compact footprint.

EMS is a one-stop-shop for finished sheet metal components. In addition to cutting and fabrication it has facilities for painting, silk screen printing and assembly. This approach greatly shortens the supply chain for customers, ensures tighter quality control through the manufacturing process and reduced lead times.

“The TRUMPF fibre-guided laser offered us the best productivity for materials under 5mm,” explained Julian Long, Director of Electronic Metalwork. “The lower electricity consumption is also a very attractive feature. Indeed, despite upgrading from a 1.5kW to a 2kW laser, we will not be using any more electricity.”

Julian Long continued: “We also needed a compact machine as it had to fit in the space occupied by our existing laser. The lateral access to the TRUMPF TruLaser 1030 fiber made it the ideal drop-in replacement.”

This new acquisition has been specified with a semi-automatic pallet changer to maximise productivity. “Cutting downtime by removing components whilst the machine is running the next sheet will help us remain competitive,” Julian Long added.

He concluded: “This is our first TRUMPF machine and I’m pleased to say the whole experience has been a breath of fresh air for us.”

The TRUMPF TruLaser 1030 fiber was installed at Electronic Metalwork’s factory in Mildenhall, Suffolk, in August 2012.


 


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