The most powerful flat-bed laser profiling centre ever to be installed in the UK for processing sheet metal has started operation at subcontractor ESP Laser Cutting (www.esplaser.com), which specializes in producing components from 3 metre × 1.5 metre sheet in a wide array of materials to a thickness of 30 mm. The investment follows the development of a 12 kW fibre laser source by Swiss manufacturer Bystronic (www.bystronic.com), whose Coventry subsidiary delivered a machine of that power, a ByStar Fiber 3015, in April 2019 to the contract machinist’s factory in Rotherham.
The increase in productivity has been remarkable. Delivering one-fifth more energy to the metal sheet than the previous most powerful fibre laser (10 kW), the new source was expected to be 20% faster at cutting. What ESP’s joint owners Steve McMillan and Paul Short actually experience is a typical productivity increase of one-third.
Summarising the impact that Bystronic equipment has made on their business, Steve and Paul offered the following insight. The reputation of the supplier at the outset was exemplary both in terms of the quality of the machines and the service back-up provided.
