|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
From mcmachinery.com
Right now at least 4,000 laser job shops in the U.S. are competing in a "virtual" service market that continues to be characterized by downward pricing pressure. Practically speaking, virtual service means that parts can be ordered, manufactured, and shipped anywhere in the continental U.S.; physical proximity is no longer a requirement for being close to the customer. It is commonplace to see two or three shops from parts unknown competing for distant flat-sheet jobs. The harsh reality is that lower margins have forced job shops to expand services and capabilities to avoid being left behind. A typical job shop with laser cutting equipment processes either 4- by 8-foot or 5- by 10-ft. sheets of mild steel, stainless, and aluminum. Thicknesses are from 20 gauge to 0.5 inch, depending on the resonator's beam output. The operator seeks to improve both productivity and profits by optimizing part geometry, lot size, scrap rate, machine acceleration, material handling, beam mode quality, and gas delivery. Laser know-how has matured to the point where even the most knowledgeable operator can improve the fabricating operation only so much. Products & Services
Laser optics, heads and beam delivery components are used in laser cutting machines, laser welding and marking systems.
Laser cutting machines, laser welding machines and laser marking systems use high-powered lasers to cut, trim, perforate, weld, or join a variety of materials in plate or sheet form.
Laser micrometers measure extremely small distances using laser technology.
Fiber lasers use optical fibers doped with low levels of rare-earth halides as the lasing medium to amplify light.
Solid state lasers use a transparent substance (crystalline or glass) as the active medium, doped to provide the energy states necessary for lasing. Solid state lasers are used in both low and high power applications.
Product Announcements
Topics of Interest
The manufacturing industry is cyclical, transitioning every few years from one hot market to the next. A company's success is dependant on its ability to evolve with those changes. The right...
(Read More)
Founded in an area of the country that is predominately agriculture didn't stop tool and die maker Fred Wilke from leaving a major tool manufacturer to start up his own shop in 1987. It didn't keep...
(Read More)
Lasers Unlimited was founded by Alan Bush in 1996. He gained several years of laser-cutting experience from Novi Laser. Novi Laser had used competitive equipment, so purchasing the same machines for...
(Read More)
Laser machine users know it, but often ignore it. Laser manufacturers swear by it, but often don’t push it. It’s maintenance, and it should be the watchword of anyone who owns and operates a laser.
(Read More)
Working with electrode wire four to five times smaller than a human hair, holding parts barely visible with the naked eye, and accurately producing holes as tiny as 0.0005 in. in diameter is nothing...
(Read More)
Technical Articles
Vision in Hostile Environments
- Machine Vision Equipment
|
|
