Laser processing simplifies setup

Manufacturing Engineering, Jul 1998

Since introducing laser cutting into its operation a year ago, Midwest Precision Products (North Royalton, OH) has improved the flexibility of its manufacturing operations.

"When we first evaluated the CO, laser system, we immediately saw an advantage in the minimal setup time required," notes Jeff Berkes, plant and laser operations manager for Midwest Precision Products. He says that laser cutting accommodates the company's needs for production volumes ranging from one piece to more than 100,000 pieces. It also works well with the materials used by Midwest Precision, which include carbon steel, stainless steel, aluminum, composites, ceramics and hardened steel for tools. Finally, it accommodates the company's material finishes, which range from hot-rolled to bright.

At one time, Midwest Precision Products relied exclusively on stamping operations. But in recent years, the firm's engineers found that the company's wide range of volumes, materials, and finishes resulted in longer setup times between jobs.

Switching to laser cutting, however, changed all that. Midwest Precision uses the laser primarily to make diesel engine parts. Unlike the stamping presses previously employed, the laser creates burrfree parts without sharp edges. What's more, distortion caused by blanking in a die is no longer a factor. Because the diesel engine parts are very surface-critical, the laser offers further advantages since the firm no longer feeds material through a die.

"Not only was minimal setup time an attractive feature of the laser," says Berkes, "but also the flexibility of working with a COz laser. Its low gas consumption, ease of loading and unloading sheet materials with the transfer ball work lifter system, and especially the parts nesting function on the machine, all made a lot of sense to us." He reported his findings to Midwest Precision Products' VP of manufacturing, Ken Quinn, who decided to begin a formal sourcing process for the CO2 laser. Additional applications, including scribing and engraving of metals and non-metals, cemented the company's decision to look for a laser.

Midwest decided to purchase a Mitsubishi 2512 HD with a 4030 resonator, high-pressure assist, 3000 W power rating, and 4000 W peak power from Mitsubishi Laser, MC Machinery Systems Inc. (Wood Dale, IL). A key driver in the decision was "the fact that Mitsubishi produces the machine itself, whereas other brands rely on outside control suppliers. This was a critical concern for us because we were new to the laser, so training our people and being there to service the machine were essentials in a supplier."

Since purchasing the laser, the company has reduced scrap, improved total part quality and total part production, reduced inventory (because large die runs are no longer necessary), and regularly achieved just-in-time production goals. Says Berkes: "We now have greater flexibility in our manufacturing, due to the differences between instant changeover for producing different parts in a matter of minutes on the laser versus die and coil changeover on a stamping press. In fact, the dependability of the laser and the skill of our technicians allow us to run seven days a week. It's made us a very high quality, very pricecompetitive supplier of diesel engine parts."

For more information on Mitsubishi's laser processing systems Circle 374.