The Fabricator - Sample Issue

Laser machine-maker stresses process time

For those fabricators that have looked preventive maintenance in favor of or are looking for a laser cutting unhealthylevelsofuptime. machine, they might find the whole To help fabricators make more ^{experience akin to car shopping,}intelligentdecisions aboutpreventive ^where ^numbers ^often ^take ^centermaintenance, e-Soft software on the stage over actual vehicle driving _HyperGear _and _other _Mazak _devices^experience. ^Laser ^machine ^manufac-provides laser operators with mainte- ^turers ^talk ^about ^how ^many ^thousandsnance notices. Operators are notified of kilowatts that are now available in their resonators and about how many holes per minute their laser heads are capable of making.

But talk to any fabricator and the issue is all about uptime. How do you keep the laser cutting machine up and running as much as possible?

Some equipment manufacturers are beginning to see the importance of stressing overall cost of ownership of equipment instead of just pushing headline-grabbing numbers. Mazak Optonics is stressing that with its latest product introductions.

“Emerging technologies in laser right now seem to be all about power,” said William Citron, Mazak’s executive vice president. “The technologies that we are concentrating on are about processing time—shortening the time between when the material hits the dock and the time it leaves as a part.”

One of the main examples of this thinking is Mazak’s HyperGear laser system with automatic torch and nozzle changer. Instead of a 20-minute changeover when it comes to torches and nozzles, a machine operator can watch the equipment make the switch in two minutes.

This is especially important, according to Lou Derango, Mazak’s 2-D product manager, because fabricators often run with the same lens size and the same nozzle for most of the day, even if different material and thickness might be more efficiently cut with laser consumable changes. Production managers tell the operators to keep the machines running, Derango said, even if the machine might be using more assist gas than is necessary or if the machine might cut faster with a changeover. If a job shop is required to make five to six changes daily, one can understand why it might want to minimize the downtime.

Sometimes the search for uptime can lead to disaster, Citron said. He shared a story of a customer that had purchased $8.5 million worth of Mazak machining centers, but had to replace them all four years later because the company ignored proper

when the machine is approaching a time for scheduled preventive maintenance, when it needs preventive maintenance, and when the machine is operating at risk of problems because preventive maintenance has been ignored.

Elements of Mazak’s higher-priced

AAn automatic torch changer is one example of how laser cutting machine manufacturers are trying to cut down on setup time between jobs. (continued on page 14)