Like many sheet-metal sub-contractors that specialise in profiling thinner materials, Wigston-based Metalfacture has opted to install a fibre laser — its first — alongside an existing CO2 laser profiler. Another first for the company is the integration of automatic sheet load and unload, allowing it to profit from the economies of unmanned running overnight.

Established in 1997, Metalfacture employs 50 staff at its 95,000ft2 Leicestershire factory and has operated manned shifts ‘round the clock’ for many years, producing such items as shop displays, housings for electronic and security products, and fabrications for the materials-handling industry.

More than 80% of the company’s work involves processing thin mild steel, Zintec, stainless steel and other materials less than 3mm thick; a maximum thickness of 10mm is handled very occasionally.

The company’s commercial director, Ben Jones-Fenleigh, says: “We needed extra laser profiling capacity to keep pace with increasing levels of business and were aware that a fibre laser would be faster than CO2 for the gauges we usually machine.

"The trouble is that fibre machines are so fast — up to 50% quicker cutting in a straight line and 30% overall — that an operator would be forever loading and unloading the machine. The likelihood is that presentation of material would have been a bottleneck; and in any case, such intensive loading duties would be arduous to carry out manually.”

In May this year, Metalfacture installed a BySprint Fiber 3015 from Coventry-based Bystronic UK Ltd (www.bystronic.com), along with a ByTrans 3015 Extended loading system, which benefits from a second storage cassette.

It means that combinations of raw material up to 3,000 x 1,500mm, plastic separator sheets (if used), large cut components and skeletons can be accommodated on the cassettes and on the floor underneath (if necessary) to suit the production process.

Operation of the handling equipment is via the touch screen on the laser cutting machine control; the standard load/unload cycle time is 60sec. Up to six tonnes of material can be put onto the cassettes and processed overnight, so cut parts and skeletons are ready to be taken away by fork-lift in the morning. If similarly long runs are carried out during a day shift, the operator is free to undertake other tasks.

Mr Jones-Fenleigh adds: “The ByTrans Extended gives us considerable flexibility, which is ideal for a sub-contractor. We are continually having to prioritise work and are therefore not always sure what we will have to produce next to meet our production schedules. We went to see a similar Bystronic system in use at a factory doing a lot of thin-gauge work and got good feedback from the company.

"The design of the handling equipment is ideal for our type of shop, which was one of the main reasons that we opted for the Bystronic solution. Moreover, it has proved to be easy to program and use.”

Metalfacture’s BySprint Fiber is fitted with a high-power (4kW) laser source; together with the machine’s 12m/sec2 acceleration to a maximum positioning speed of 140m/min, this ensures high production output. Furthermore, a fibre machine is easier to maintain than CO2 models, as delivery of the laser light does not require expensive optical mirrors; and because the focusing lens is sealed in the cutting head, it is not a consumable.

Other advantages include lower power consumption, 50% longer servicing intervals, and the ability to cut reflective materials without fear of back reflections damaging the machine.

To accommodate the addition of another laser profiler at its Wigston factory, Metalfacture upgraded its existing nitrogen-generating plant; this delivers a continuous supply to all machines, to ensure high-quality cut edges. The assist gas is extracted from compressed air, avoiding the expense and down-time associated with buying and changing nitrogen gas bottles.

Radan software is used for creating geometry, nesting, and producing the cutting paths and code; meanwhile, two seats of Bystronic’s BySoft 7 software are used to schedule and monitor the cutting plans and manufacturing processes.