Page 22 - MetalForming June 2014

Energy Savings Convince Management of the Benefits of Fiber Lasers
Putting the Machine to the Test
Heffner speaks at length about the improved edge quality from using the fiber laser to cut aluminum sheet, in particular, compared to CO2. “Any burrs from the fiber laser are much smaller and easier to remove than the burrs cre- ated by CO2-laser cutting,” Heffner says. “That alone has saved significant time and money by eliminating a lot of sec- ondary part handling and deburring.”
However, for Reflex’s management team, justifying the investment in what Heffner calls “relatively new technolo- gy” came down to increased speed and decreased energy costs.
Back in 2011 when Heffner began to look for a new laser-cutting machine and turned his attention to fiber tech- nology, he became convinced that a fiber laser would create savings for the company. Once the machine landed on the shop floor, he focused on con- vincing management that the claims by Cy Laser as to the power savings were true. So, he hired an electrical service company to put meters on one of the firm’s 2500-W CO2 laser-cutting machines and the new fiber machine, and ran the machines side by side on the same material types and thick- nesses for one week.
“The outcome of the comparison was simply stunning,” says Heffner. “It only takes a 38-A service to run the Cy Laser machine, but it rarely draws that much power during operation. And it only draws electricity while cutting, not when idling as we handle blanks and the cut parts. We experienced a 90- percent savings in electrify consump- tion with the fiber-laser machine.”
But wait, there’s more. Heffner notes that the new machine’s smaller chiller, coupled to the generator, only runs part-time, “since the heat generated by the solid-state generator is mini- mal compared to the heat generated by a traditional CO2-laser machine that requires laser assist gases,” Heffner says. “And, to further add to the savings, we’ve seen a big difference in preven- tive-maintenance costs. There are no mirrors on the fiber-laser machine, and any time we have had to repair any-
Most of the work Reflex runs on its new fiber laser is aluminum
from 0.10 to 1/8 in. thick. The machine
can cut aluminum faster than its 4000-W
CO2 laser can, and consume half the
wattage. Shown are alu- minum parts 0.10 in.
thick (below) and 0.125 in. thick (left) that the
2500-W fiber-laser machine cuts at 200-250 in./min.
20 MetalForming/June 2014
www.metalformingmagazine.com
thing, it’s been replacement of basic hardware-store items like nuts and bolts—no need to ship special parts from overseas.”
Icing on the Cake: Programming
Along with the new fiber-laser cut- ting machine came nesting software from Lantek—“an upgrade from what we were using before,” says Heffner, who oversees much of the firm’s part- design and programming functions. “We’ve gone ahead and incorporated the Lantek programming software into all of our laser-cutting machines and our turret presses, using the appropri- ate post processors.
“We didn’t know what to expect with Lantek at first,” Heffner continues, “but the benefits have really been the icing on the cake. The software performs a lot more automated nesting than the pre- vious software did, which required
more manual intervention by our pro- grammers to optimize the nests for productivity and material utilization. Since adding the new software, we’ve seen nesting efficiency and material utilization jump by 20 to 30 percent across the board.”
Calculating Net Savings
Estimating the net savings, to satis- fy management, from reduced main- tenance and power costs “amounts to tens of thousands of dollars per year over three shifts,” says Reflex Indus- tries president Robert Heffner. That has the company contemplating adding another Cy Laser fiber machine to the mix, to replace an aging CO2 machine.
“This time, we’ll go bigger—4000 W perhaps—and go with an end-loading machine,” says Chris Heffner. “I hope to get the new machine in here during the next 12 to 18 months.” MF