As part of its planned process of continuous investment in the latest manufacturing technologies, Dudley-based GF Laser (
www.gflaser.co.uk) has placed an order for a TrumpF TruLaser Cell 5030 five-axis CNC laser-profiling machine — the first such model in the UK.
GF Laser director Simon Tregillus was among the customers invited to the recent
INTECH 2019 event at Trumpf’s base in Germany (
www.trumpf.com), after which the order for the TruLaser Cell 5030 was placed.
He said: “With this order, we are investing in the latest fibre technology. The TruLaser Cell 5030 will replace our original Trumpf TLC CUT 5 machine and run alongside our existing TruLaser Cell 7040.”
The TLC CUT 5 was purchased in 2006 and is still performing well, but the introduction of the latest TruLaser Cell 5030 will take GF Laser into another league, in terms of speed and energy efficiency.
Well suited to small and medium batch sizes, plus applications where the components are frequently changed, the TruLaser Cell 5030 comes with a low-maintenance and energy-efficient TruDisk solid-state laser.
Due to be installed in August, it will be set to work on the five-axis profiling and trimming of pressings, extrusions and spinnings — for sectors such as automotive, yellow goods, construction, architecture and art.
The materials processed on the TruLaser Cell 5030 will include mild steel, stainless steel and aluminium.
It will also allow GF Laser to process reflective materials such as copper and brass in five axes — a task that was not possible using the company’s CO2-based TruLaser Cell 7040.
Mr Tregillus said: “With the incredible cutting speeds of modern laser cutters, growing numbers of customers are turning to this technology instead of investing in a press tool, which creates more business for GF Laser.
“The arrival of the TruLaser 5030 Cell will allow us to accelerate the processing of existing work, creating more capacity.”