Designed to accommodate a maximum sheet size of 6,096 x 2,032mm, the L3 6020 from Salvagnini UK & Ireland Ltd, Ross-on-Wye (www.salvagninigroup.com), retains many of the features of the smaller L3 models — including high levels of speed and application flexibility over a wide range of materials and thicknesses.

Furthermore, the company’s patented load-bearing beam principle with lightened ‘airplane’ manipulator has been revised for this new model to provide an extremely rigid structure with even greater stability — without compromising speed or precision.

To optimise operator ergonomics and accessibility on such a large machine, there are six sliding doors along the length of the machine to provide easy access to the working area, while the large windows (approved for safe use with solid-state lasers) and the positioning of the new control console offer maximum visibility of the cutting area.

Salvagnini has also paid particular attention to the new (electrical) pallet change-over, which is a fast system designed to offer consistent high performance, regardless of the size and weight of the sheet being processed.

The L3 6020 is equipped with a single optics head designed to provide high-quality cutting across a range of material thicknesses, ensuring rapid production changes and the elimination of adjustment time.

Also featured is the manufacturer’s patented Dry Cooling technology, which cools the optics without the use of gas or liquids and offers real-time control of the lens temperature.

The L3 is also equipped with two cutting functions — Standard and Powercut — so the user can choose the operating mode best suited to different production requirements.

Standard mode ensures greater operational safety in unmanned manufacturing, while Powercut offers “reactivity and greater operational speed”. Both are easily activated by a toggle switch. A video of the machine in action is available on the Web site (http://www.youtube.com /watch?v=7kpURS1APls).

Automation benefits

Salvagnini says investing in automation not only reduces labour costs but also allows efficiency to be increased by at least 25-30% compared to a stand-alone system, adding that more than 60% of the company’s laser installations have been provided with unmanned loading/unloading solutions over the past three years, with more than half of those being ‘full featured’ configurations with sheet feeding and the automatic sorting of cut parts.

Salvagnini customer Imecon Engineering Srl specialises in the design, prototyping and production of turn-key solutions for ‘digital signage’.

Alessio Vairani, Imecon’s CVO, said: “Our company started as an electronic and computer company, but from the beginning we focused not so much on the integration of components as on the development of new high-end products, totally customised according to the needs of customers.

Moreover, because we wanted to be producers and not integrators, while achieving consistent quality and minimise lead time as much as possible, we decided to invest in a Salvagnini LTW vertical warehouse equipped with 15 loading trays able to automatically feed an L3 fibre laser, which itself is integrated within a FlexCell comprising a P4 panel bender and a B3 press brake.

"The ability to stock different materials allows us to effortlessly manage single units or small batches, which represent the main part of our production.”

Meanwhile, Zanardo SpA — a manufacturer of metal components for electrical systems and industrial automation — says it has become increasingly important to be able to work on special and custom products while keeping the lead time as low as possible, ideally between 48 and 72hr.

Piero Zanardo says that when the company was looking to update its laser cutting capability it wanted a system that not only offered high cutting performance but could also be part of an integrated process.

“The MTW system that Salvagnini installed was the perfect answer for our needs. It can manage the storage of up to 30 different materials, which can be available practically in real time, while the L5 fibre laser has allowed us to quadruple our productivity compared to our old CO2 laser.

Moreover, a Cartesian manipulator separates and stacks the profiled parts, returning them to the MTW warehouse. From here, they can quickly be made available for unloading or for a special downstream station, ready for our P2L panel bender.”