A record number of visitors attended Bystronic UK’s latest Open House, held last month at its Coventry showroom (www.bystronic.com).

The theme was MACH Speed, which involved visitors being asked to estimate the time required to manufacture a component for an off-road vehicle.

A 3-D model of the part — a large back-plate produced from 4mm mild steel for a three-tonne dumper truck — was first ‘unfolded’; in less than 1min, a laser cutting program (with the correct blank allowance) was exported to a fibre laser machine — a Bystronic 10kW ByStar Fiber — and the required press brake bending program was created.

The part was profile-cut on the ByStar — four-times faster than on a conventional 6kW CO2 laser machine — then bent on one of the company’s latest press brakes (an Xpert 150) without program adjustment and with a full tool set-up included.

Most people over-estimated the total production time.

Bystronic UK’s managing director, David Larcombe, said: “We sold a number of machines during the event, notably a 10kW 4020 fibre laser and two Xpert press brakes.

"We believe the theme was not only interesting to visitors but also an eye-opener, in terms of the productivity benefits that can be achieved with modern machine tools.

"UK manufacturing continues to be buoyant, as witnessed by the large number of visitors to our April event, and there appears to be an appetite — especially among sub-contractors — to increase competitiveness by investing in the latest
technical innovations.”