At the Witton, Birmingham, factory of Wheeler Fabrications, a fibre laser cutting machine from Coventry-based Bystronic UK Ltd (www.bystronic.com) has taken over from an older second-hand CO2 laser, dramatically raising productivity and product consistency as well as allowing the sub-contractor to reduce both lead times and costs to customers.

When the company was visited in November 2015, a job that involved producing 125 parts from 1.5 and 3mm-thick stainless-steel sheet for oil-rig safety lights was completed by the 3kW Bystronic BySprint Fiber 3015 in under 6hr. Production manager Mark Ashford, who started with the company 20 years ago as an apprentice, said that the contract would have taken four days to finish on the CO2 laser, which would have struggled to cut the 3mm-thick material. “Some 80% of our work here involves sheet between 1 and 3mm thick, which is ideal for extracting maximum benefit from fibre laser cutting.

“Due to its technology and the high power of its laser, the BySprint Fiber machine is five-times faster at profiling components than the machine that it replaced. It also costs significantly less to run, as it pulls less power and does not require costly servicing of optics.

Neither do we have to buy bottles of helium or CO2 resonator gas any more, so we can manufacture more economically and pass on cost reductions to our customers, while maintaining our profitability. “Another advantage of fibre laser cutting is its ability to machine reflective materials, as there are no optics to become damaged. Copper, brass, aluminium and stainless-steel sheets up to 3 x 1.5m — in thicknesses from 0.5 to 6mm — are processed without difficulty. Indeed, they all cut like a dream.”

Company’s beginnings

Established 35 years ago by owner Bryan Wheeler as a factory maintenance firm serving large companies in the area (such as Dunlop and Smith & Nephew), Wheeler Fabrications gradually moved into sheet-metal working. Towards the end of the 1990s, the company installed a turret punch press (it is still in operation) and a press brake from Edwards Pearson (now part of Bystronic). A move from a nearby unit to its present premises in 2013 trebled the floor area available for production and provided additional space for installation of the Bysprint Fiber 3015 and other plant.

Today, the company provides a broad range of industries with design consultancy followed by metal cutting, folding and fabrication services; quantities range from prototypes through low-volume runs to production volumes. The petrochemical, defence, automotive, food, hygiene, shop-fitting, lighting and furniture sectors are among those served; and with some 80% of sheet metal output folded, the firm is very much at the high-value end of the business.

Regarding machine selection, Mr Ashford said: “We spent 18 months researching the market and comparing different fibre laser cutting machines. Several potential suppliers were given a trial to ‘productionise’ a particularly difficult component; Bystronic gave the best response from its technical centre in Coventry, and the company has continued to provide good applications support.

“Another point in the Swiss manufacturer’s favour was the seamless interaction of its Bysoft 7 nesting and 2-D programming software — not only with its own machine control but also with our Radan 3-D modelling CAD/CAM software. Furthermore, Bysoft has an integral seat of SolidWorks CAD, so we can design components in that environment if we choose to.”

An increasing number of Wheeler Fabrications’ customers are opting for components to be made out of pre-plated materials, as the finishing services that it buys in are becoming more and more costly. Partly with minimising damage to these materials in mind — and to avoid the arduous job of physically handling sheets onto the Bystronic machine — the BySprint Fiber machine was supplied with a ByLoader 3015.

At the press of a button, this loads a new sheet onto the machine’s shuttle table after the operator has removed the previously cut components and the skeleton. The company often produces 15 jobs from 15 different materials in a day, so efficient handling is particularly important.

Since the fibre laser cutting machine was installed, it has resulted in Wheeler Fabrications winning a lot of new business. A 1.5m-long x 6mm-thick brass grille has just been produced for Birmingham Repertory Theatre — a job that would have been impossible on the CO2 laser. Another recently completed contract that would previously have been uneconomical due to the slowness of the old laser machine was the production of 1,200 electrical cabinets from 1.2mm-thick Zintec (in three variants) for the construction industry.