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1 Volume 5 - Issue 1 - July 2015 The POWER LINE is a Prima Power Publicatio PSBB Lie Clears the Air o Automatio...Page 3 CUSTOMER PROFILES NEW TECHNOLOGY PRODUCTIVITY FLEXIBILITY Puch it, Laser-cut it, or Somethig Else? Matchig the Right Machie for the Job...Page 8 Shear Geius Cells The Recipe for Higher Productivity...Page 16 Platio Fiber ad Automatio A Game Chager for Italia Maufacturer...Page 12 Also i this issue... Platio 2.0 Fiber Laser New 3D Laser System for Automotive New Chia Plat FastBed Icreases Productio Flexible Automatio Carbo Fiber Machie Structure Filad Techology Tour 500th Pael Beder Celebratio

2 MANAGEMENT CORNER Together We Grow...Sharig Our Success with Employees, Customers, ad Stakeholders By Ezio Basso, Prima Idustrie Maagig Director, Prima Power Divisio Ogoig growth ad improvemet is our commitmet. This has always drive us to ivest i the cotiuous iovatio of our products ad services ad i the expasio of our geographical presece. We stay close to our customers ad help them succeed i their day-to-day challeges by beig preset where they are, listeig to their eeds, ad deliverig cuttig-edge techology suitable to their productio. All the latest ew products Laser Next, Platio 2.0, Shear Brilliace, ad the LPBB lie, just to metio a few were successfully received by the market. Lately, we have also icreased our ivestmets i highgrowth geographic regios to establish ew facilities, particularly i Chia, Idia, Mexico, ad i Easter Europe. of the plat has bee completed withi 10 moths. The opeig ceremoy was excitig ad impressive, with the lio dace ad eye dottig traditioal ceremoy ad the official ribbo cuttig. I wish to thak all the Chiese ad Italia authorities who supported us i this project ad took part i the ceremoy, the 350 guests who atteded the iauguratio, ad all our customers ad parters. This success would ot have bee possible without them. A special thaks goes to all our employees who have cotributed with their hard work ad commitmet to this importat evet. The first moths of 2015 were distiguished by a importat evet, which exemplified our compay s growth. A grad opeig ceremoy was held o March 26 to mark the official start of productio i Chia at Wujiag, Suzhou, Jiagsu provice. Prima Power Suzhou s official opeig celebrates a major milestoe i our history ad represets a decisive step i improvig our geographic coverage of Chia. It also demostrates our strog commitmet to our local customers ad busiess parters, as well as our costat goal to be where our customers are i order to react faster to their requiremets. We see huge growth for our sector i Chia, ad the ew facility will accelerate our developmet i this coutry. Located 80 km west of Shaghai, ad coverig a area of 8,000 square meters, the ew plat is desiged for maufacturig, sales, ad after-sales of a broad rage of machies for sheet metal processig. A Tech Ceter dedicated to Chiese ad Asia customers is also available i the same area. Thaks to the support from the local govermet, the costructio This year we have also started the buildig of a ew Tech Ceter i Collego, Torio, Italy, a further ivestmet to improve our customers experiece with ceters of excellece for demostratios, cycle time studies, traiig, ad cosultacy. We will keep you iformed o this further step forward i our growth strategy. Editor... Robert Kolcz bob.kolcz@primapower.com Techical Editor... Lutz Ehrlich lutz.ehrlich@primapower.com Cotributig Editor Italy...Simoa DiGiovai simoa.digiovai@primapower.com Cotributig Editors Filad... Piia Pajuvirta piia.pajuvirta@primapower.com All registered trademarks i this publicatio are property of their respective owers. 2 July 2015

3 CUSTOMER PROFILE Uiso Clears the Air o Automatig Sheet Metal Fabricatio Uiso Comfort Techologies was established i 2010 as the paret orgaizatio of Iovet, Valet ad Precisio Coils. Tracig its market legacy to 1981, today Uiso desigs, maufactures, ad provides air hadlig products that vetilate, dehumidify, filter, ad heat or cool air. The compay s missio is to deliver products that reduce eergy cosumptio ad buildig operatioal costs. Uiso is headquartered i Mieapolis, MN, with additioal maufacturig plats ear Sacrameto, CA ad Memphis, TN. More specifically, its three busiesses iclude: Iovet Air Hadlig Equipmet is a custom maufacturer of commercial/idustrial air hadlig systems, eergy recovery uits, desiccat dehumidificatio products, ad pool dehumidificatio uits. Iovet products are istalled i a wide rage of facilities icludig educatioal, health care, idustrial, govermet, hospitality, recreatioal, research, ad retail buildigs. Uiso desigs, maufactures, ad provides air hadlig products that vetilate, dehumidify, filter, ad heat or cool air. The compay s missio is to deliver products that reduce eergy cosumptio ad buildig operatioal costs. Valet Air Maagemet Systems maufactures high-percetage outdoor air packaged rooftop uits that address the eeds of buildig owers, specifyig egieers, ad istallig cotractors. Valet uits serve i dedicated outdoor air comfort ad process applicatios i facilities ragig from educatioal buildigs ad lodgig facilities to laboratories, idustrial operatios, ad commercial properties. Precisio Coils specializes i maufacturig competitively-priced, precisio-egieered HVAC heatig ad coolig coils. Precisio Coils offers a full rage of HVAC replacemet coils. I 2013, Uiso bega its search for more productive ad efficiet fabricatio equipmet. At that time, both Iovet ad Valet had Jacob VadeHei, maufacturig egieer, ispects a part processed o the Prima Power EBe servo-electric Express Beder. separate ad older fabricatig ad formig lies at differet areas i the 180,000-square-foot Mieapolis facility. However, both compaies also maufactured a wide rage of similar rectagular paels for their products. The decisio was made to combie productio ad brig it together i oe locatio for more efficiet plaig ad cost efficiecies. Accordig to Jacob VadeHei, maufacturig egieer, Uiso s challege was We looked at high-speed puch presses, differet types of lasers, ad combiatio machies. Ultimately we decided o the Prima Power PSBB Lie. We discovered that we could most easily maitai sigle part flow with the PSBB lie, elimiate all the i-betwee processig hadlig time, ad also reduce our WIP. to also improve their processes i order to keep up with icreased demad. We bega to look at other optios, he explais. We had a FastBed pael beder from Prima Power that was performig well ad producig high-quality parts. While visitig the Prima Power facility outside Chicago, I ispected the Shear Geius puch/shear. Ad as we fie tued the project ad explored the optios available to us, we discovered that we could really beefit from a complete automated fabricatio lie. Cotiued o page 4 PRIMAPOWER.COM 3

4 CUSTOMER PROFILE Uiso Clears the Air o Automatig Sheet Metal Fabricatio Cotiued from page 3 PSBB Lie We explored may optios, VadeHei cotiues. We looked at high-speed puch presses, differet types of lasers, ad combiatio machies. Ultimately, we decided o the Prima Power PSBB Lie. We discovered that we could most easily maitai sigle part flow with the PSBB lie, elimiate all the i-betwee processig hadlig time, ad also reduce our WIP. The Prima Power PSBB is a compact, flexible maufacturig lie that processes blak sheets ito high-quality compoets that exit fully bet. The PSBB cocept icludes the followig fuctios: system desig software machie tools ad cells material hadlig automatio customer support ad service automatic storages ad flexible bufferig bedig ad puchig/shearig, to exit material from the system, ad to brig ew material ito it. The flexible ad versatile bufferig fuctio esures that optimum operatio i terms of maufacturig cost ad throughput time ca always be chose, whatever the maufacturig task. Flexible bufferig esures optimal operatio of itegrated machies. The mai compoets of the PSBB lie iclude: Shear Geius servo-electric puch/shear combiatio SGe8 Buffer tables Express Beder servo-electric EBe6 Servo-Electric Shear Geius With the Shear Geius cocept, the objective is to provide a machie capable of trasformig a full-size sheet ito fiished parts. These parts ca be moved to the fial productio stages for immediate itegratio directly ito the fial product assembly. The heart of the servo-electric Shear Geius SGe is a updated servo electric 30-to puchig machie with 1,000 hpm stroke speed, 250 rpm idex speed ad 150 m/mi sheet positioig speed. The rightagle shear has a servo-electric actuatio system, which makes shear movemet both fast ad fully cotrolled for maximum productivity. Material flow ca be arraged i flexible ways to trasfer parts directly to automatic bedig, to balace the differet time requiremets of bedig ad puchig/shearig, to exit material from the system, ad to brig ew material ito it. The combo storage allows processig of compoets from a variety of materials, which ca be chaged, as programmed, automatically. The sheets are trasferred ito a Shear Geius puch/shear cell. After shearig, the compoets are set to bufferig ad subsequet bedig i a automatic bedig cell. With our older turret puch press, we were ruig about 7-8 miutes per sheet compared to the 3 1 /2-4 miutes with the Prima Power SGe. That s a 2-to-1 icrease i productivity. Material flow ca be arraged i flexible ways to trasfer parts directly to automatic bedig, to balace the differet time requiremets of The combo storage allows processig of compoets from a variety of materials, which ca be chaged, as programmed, automatically. The sheets are trasferred ito a Shear Geius puch/shear cell. After shearig, the compoets are set to bufferig ad subsequet bedig i a automatic bedig cell. We really like the loadig system with the wagos that allow a sheet to process as it preps the ext oe, explais VadeHei. I just a matter of secods, it trasitios ito the ext sheet. We wated the loadig ad uloadig to be as ergoomic as possible. There is o more shakig out parts, o more loadig the sheets by had. Our SGe also rus 24/7, although we have staff available o each shift. We ve also elimiated skeletos by takig advatage of commo-lie cuttig. With a traditioal puch press, typically there would be about ¾ - 1 of space betwee the parts. We have very rectagular parts, so the right-agle shear was a perfect solutio for us. We were able to est more parts ad to achieve better sheet utilizatio. With our older 4 July 2015

5 turret puch press, we were ruig about 7-8 miutes per sheet compared to the 3 1 /2-4 miutes with the Prima Power SGe. That s a 2-to-1 icrease i productivity. We also really like the ik jet priter optio. It saves us a lot of part-markig time. Bufferig Material flow ca be arraged i flexible ways to trasfer parts directly to automatic bedig, to balace the differet time requiremets of bedig ad puchig/shearig, to exit material from the system, ad to brig ew The Prima Power PSBB is a compact, flexible maufacturig lie that processes blak sheets ito highquality compoets that exit fully bet. material ito it. The flexible ad versatile bufferig fuctio esures that optimum operatio i terms of maufacturig cost ad throughput time ca always be chose, whatever the maufacturig task at had. Flexible bufferig esures optimal operatio of itegrated machies. The buffer helps to level the work load betwee the Shear Geius ad the Express Beder, explais VadeHei. The buffer holds the parts ad releases them i a measured maer dow to the beder. It also allows the SGe to remai ruig as fast as possible. To form that part o a traditioal brake, we would ed up flippig it 8 times, ad ow we ca form that part i just secods. Express Beder EBe6 The EBe servo electric Express Beder is a bedig solutio that is desiged specifically for each fabricator s productio requiremets to achieve maximum productivity, quality, ad repeatability. The bedig operatio is fully automated, from the loadig of flat puched parts to uloadig of the fiished product. The EBe servo electric Express Beder is a bedig solutio that is desiged specifically for each fabricator s productio requiremets to achieve maximum productivity, quality, ad repeatability. The bedig operatio is fully automated, from the loadig of flat puched parts to uloadig of the fiished product. The EBe beder has a maximum bedig legth of 131 (3,350 mm) ad a maximum opeig height of 8 (200 mm). The prove costructio features actuatios of the bedig blade movemets (vertical ad horizotal) by NC servo axes istead of hydraulic cyliders. The upper tool movemets are also made by aother NC servo axis. Prima Power EBe provides the high bedig quality required i demadig applicatios. The quality is achieved through precise cotrol of bedig axes, fast ad smooth bedig motio, programmability, ad rigid costructio that is immue to variatio i thermal coditios. Oe of the greatest beefits of the EBe is its ability to do egative flages ad positive flages at the same time without flippig the part over, says VadeHei. That s a importat feature because we have door paels that have ie forms ad four egative beds o it. To form that part o a traditioal brake, we would ed up flippig it 8 times...ad ow we ca form that part i just secods. Aother big beefit we have experieced with the EBe is the ability to parametrically create bed programmig. It ca do this o the fly, with o huma itervetio. This saves us a to of programmig time. By automatig, we were ot cuttig jobs. The umber of employees is growig, but i differet areas. We are takig out the grut work ad creatig better, higher-tech jobs. Quality Products Accordig to VadeHei, quality parts are the real beefit that Uiso has received from the PSBB lie. May times the visual impact of the uit is how people measure the iteral quality of a product, reflects VadeHei. We desig the iterior of our compoets to the highest level of quality, so it is really importat for us to have the exterior of our products match that same level of quality... ad the PSBB lie, ad especially the beder, helps us achieve this. It has helped us produce high-quality, scratch-free parts. It helps produce these parts a lot easier tha before. It is very precise ad cosistet. New Opportuities Whe we desiged the ew plat layout, we brought ew equipmet o lie ad may of our employees were shifted ito differet roles, says VadeHei. By automatig, we were ot cuttig jobs. The umber of employees is growig, but i differet areas. We are takig out the grut work ad creatig better, higher-tech jobs. For example, we o loger have to shake out parts or load heavy sheets by had. We ca t hire fast eough for our ew productio jobs. Our ew Prima Power PSBB lie has bee a life saver whe you cosider the amout of growth we have recetly experieced, cocludes VadeHei. The efficiecy of the PSBB has bee fatastic. It has elimiated a great amout of o-value added time betwee statios. As a result, from sheet metal to a fiished pael, we wet from days to hours. It has bee a real game chager, ad we shudder to thik what would have happeed if the lie had bee istalled a few moths later. The PSBB lie has helped us reach productio levels that we could ot have reached without it. PRIMAPOWER.COM 5

6 NEW PRODUCT Platio 2.0 Fiber... Tailored to Your Applicatio The ew 2.0 versio of the Platio Fiber laser machie by Prima Power has bee developed to maximize our customers competitiveess. A series of optio suites is dedicated to the differet productio eeds: SMART Cut for fast cuttig of thi sheets (up to 5 mm) where N2 techology ca be applied, allows a reductio of the cycle times up to 30%. Smart Moves ad Grid Cuttig are some of the techological solutios cotaied i this suite. MAX Cut for the fast cuttig of mediumthick gauge sheets, makes it possible to reduce processig times up to 40% due to Nitroge Piercig ad Hi.Piercig, which icrease piercig quality while lowerig the cycle time. NIGHT Cut for itesive productio, provides a higher piercig ad cuttig process safety. LPM (Laser Piercig Moitor), Plasma ad Tip-Touch Restart, ad dispatchig are some of the fuctios cotaied i this suite. Tried ad Tested Platform with Iovative Solutios These suites add further value to a high-performig, flexible, ad reliable machie, based o the tried ad tested Platio platform with almost 1,800 istallatios across the globe. Platio 2.0 Fiber is available with high brilliace, eergy-efficiet fiber lasers from 2 to 5 kw. Platio 2.0 Fiber head, dedicated to fiber techology, is supplied with a sigle les suitable for all applicatios, a optioal automatic ozzle chager, ad icludes advaced sesors. All this ad may other features make it a accurate, versatile, ad efficiet machie eve i case of 24/7 o-stop productio. The protectio cabi is available i two versios: LEAN, faster to istall ad with a attractive price, ad OPEN, with higher accessibility ad visibility of the work area. A wide rage of modules for the automatio of the material flow meet customers expectatios, eve whe the productio eeds vary with time: from automatic loadig/uloadig to storage, from selectio ad stackig of fiished parts, to the itegratio with a flexible maufacturig system (FMS). 6 July 2015

7 NEW FACILITY Successful Opeig Ceremoy for New Chia Plat The Prima Idustrie developmet process i the Chiese market cotiues. O March 26, the maufacturig plat of Prima Power Suzhou was officially iaugurated i Wujiag (Suzhou - Jiagsu provice), 80 km west of Shaghai, i the presece of the Chiese ad Italia authorities. The plat, which covers 8,000 square meters ad which will employ more tha 100 persoel, will host maufacturig, sales ad after-sales activities for a wide set of machies for sheet metal processig (2D laser cuttig, puchig, press brakes). I additio to maufacturig area ad HQ offices, the plat features a large showroom that will welcome Chiese ad Asia customers. Iside the plat, a area is set aside for the arrival of import items from the Europea plat but destied for other coutries without custom duty. The Prima Idustrie policy is to produce medium-rage machies i Chia, while the rest of the products will cotiue to be maufactured i the Turi ad Veroa plats i Italy, at the Fi- Power Oy site i Filad, ad at the Laserdye Champli, Miesota plat i the Uited States. The Chiese market represets approximately 40% of the worldwide market of machie tools, ad is the secod ed market for our Group after the Uited States. O March 26, the maufacturig plat of Prima Power Suzhou was officially iaugurated i Wujiag (Suzhou - Jiagsu provice), 80 km west of Shaghai, i the presece of the Chiese ad Italia authorities. thaks to the ivestmets carried out i Prima Power Suzhou ad to the reorgaizatio of the commercial coverage i the coutry. The Chiese market represets approximately 40% of the worldwide market of machie tools, ad is the secod ed market for our Group after the Uited States. This is a sig of the quick shift i the balace of the global ecoomy. We eed to have the best, but especially the most competitive ad suitable product for the customers requiremets, i order to sell it worldwide ad wi agaist the strog competitio. Prima Power Suzhou is a compay established uder the Chiese law (WOFE) of which Prima Idustrie S.p.A. ows 70%, while the remaiig 30% is owed by Leeport Machie Tool Co. Ltd., a logtime busiess parter of Prima Idustrie Group. Durig 2014, the commercial etwork of the Group i Chia has bee reorgaized, with a greater direct presece ad sales ad after-sales uits i four areas of the coutry: The Norther area maaged by Beijig, the Wester area directly maaged by the Compay i Suzhou, the Easter area where a office i the Wuha area will shortly be established, ad the Souther area (icludig Hog Kog) i which the Group shall take advatage of the cooperatio of Leeport distributorship. The Secretary of the Wujiag Committee of the Commuist Party of Chia (Liag Yi Bo), the Vice- Mayor of the city of Suzhou (Xu Mig) ad the Ambassador of Italy i Beijig (Alberto Bradaii), i additio to Prima Idustrie Group maagemet, all took part i the Opeig Ceremoy. Accordig to Giafraco Carboato, Chairma of Prima Idustrie, Prima Idustrie reveues i Chia were 42 millio i the year 2014 ad we are cofidet that we will double it withi the ext four years, The plat, which covers 8,000 square meters ad which will employ more tha 100 persoel, will host maufacturig, sales ad after-sales activities for a wide set of machies for sheet metal processig (2D laser cuttig, puchig, press brakes). PRIMAPOWER.COM 7

8 PRODUCT APPLICATION Puch it, Laser-cut it, or Somethig Else? The Sequel Figure 1 Stad-Aloe Turret Puch Press By Lutz Ehrlich ad Mike Millette The machie tool that oce was cosidered to be the best tool for the job 10 years ago is ot ecessarily the same tool a fabricator might use today to accomplish the same fabricatig goals. Puch presses, laser cuttig machies, ad machies with both capabilities have all chaged ad, frakly, ca do more tha previous geeratios of techology. Puchig machies ca still produce holeitesive parts like machies of the past, but fiber laser techology, with its small spot size whe compared to more traditioal CO2 laser techology, ca rip through sheet metal of gauge thickess at icredible rates. Of course, fabricators ca still form ad perform other fuctios o the puchig machie that ca t be doe o the laser cuttig machie. The debate over what machie tool techology to use is ot as clear-cut as it oce was. Part of the debate is the combiatio machie, either a puch/laser or a puch/shear. These machies obviously ca accomplish much more without the eed for a operator to move the part from oe operatio to aother, but a fabricator may ot have the right part mix or productio goals to justify this type of ivestmet. Agai, more iformatio is eeded to decide what makes the most sese for a fabricatig operatio. Te years ago The FABRICATOR took a look at this array of equipmet. Today it revisits that topic. 8 July 2015 Cost-effective Holemakig: Yes Material Utilizatio: Limited Secodary Operatios: Shaker parts, scrap hadlig, tab removal, deburrig Part Nestig: Limited Formig: Upformig with idexig, good cotrol, o markig Cotourig: By ibblig, wheel cuttig, or special toolig Flexibility: High, requires toolig Combied Operatios: Yes with multiple toolig optios (tappig, markig, etc.) Toolig Compatibility: Existig toolig Part Quality: Good accuracy, ibble marks The emergece of fiber lasers ad ew formig capabilities calls for rethikig basic fabricatig rules of thumb The Techology Lieup The machies discussed here are: Servo-electric turret puch press with up to 16 auto-idex or multitool statios. The auto-idex feature allows for wheel capability ad multiple idexable shapes for cotourig. Flyig-optic fiber laser. Puch/laser combiatio machie that uses both fiber laser techology ad servo-electric puchig power. Puch/shear combiatio machie that relies o servo-electric power. Other machie tool techology is available to accomplish cuttig ad puch tasks, but these machies preset a robust lieup that most fabricators are familiar with. Laser cuttig, puchig, ad shearig are kow quatities i the fabricatig idustry. However, before ay ivestigatio ito a fabricatig techology ca take place, a fabricator eeds to realize that the part mix ad productio goals are the ultimate factors ifluecig the decisio to cosider a puchig, laser cuttig, or some sort of combiatio machie. Some of the questios that guide this coversatio are: How much more capacity is eeded for productio eeds? What is the mix ad volume of work that eeds to be addressed with the ew fabricatig techology? Does the fabricatig operatio eed to reduce work-i-process? Is the compay tryig to reduce labor costs? Is there a desire to elimiate material hadlig by combiig operatios? With those aswers clearly idetified, a fabricator ca decide which fabricatig techology is the best fit for the shop. Stad-Aloe Turret Puch Press Equipmet-makers ad toolig suppliers combied expertise has positioed the turret puch press (see Figure 1) as a versatile ad cost-effective machie tool that ca accomplish may tasks. The equipmet s ability to elimiate secodary operatios performig those fuctios while the part remais o the same brush table helps it to stad out. From a strictly productivity stadpoit, turret puch presses have improved greatly over the years. Hits per miute are up to 1,000. Sheet positioig speed has improved up to 492 FPM (150 m/mi.). Idex speed has reached 250 revolutios per miute. Servo-electric power delivers higher-precisio puchig actio tha previous hydraulically-powered machies. The machies are puchigproficiet. The servo-electric power is oteworthy because it also cotributes to precise creatio of upper ad lower ram movemets to assist i creatig flages ad upforms. I additio to those forms, the right toolig ca perform cotourig, markig, ad eve tappig. Obviously, the type of toolig defies just how flexible puchig presses ca be. While this

9 article focuses o a 16-statio turret, other puchig machies are desiged to have more toolig statios with several auto-idex statios i the mix. Toolig, of course, has to be maitaied ad sharpeed if it is to perform accordig to the equipmet maufacturer s specificatios. These machies are capable of workig with a variety of materials, icludig alumium, stailess steel, ad cold-rolled steel. These puch presses typically work with material up to about i. (8 mm) thick. The programmable clampig capability positios the sheet clamps accordig to the cotrol istructios, miimizig clamp dead zoes. Whe productio chages from full-size to small sheets, clamp settigs ca be made automatically without wastig the operator s time. It must be oted that the clamps ca leave marks o the material. O the other had, upformig ad lift tables are ow commoly used with moder puchig machies, miimizig scratchig that may result as the sheet is dragged across tools that are higher tha others. Moder puchig machies ca be automated i several ways for uatteded operatio ad icreased capacity. This icludes automatio for sheet loadig, parts uloadig, ad parts stackig. More cost-effective equipmet optios, such as trapdoors i the table ad coveyors, ca help miimize operator ivolvemet while still offerig a boost i labor productivity. From a strictly productivity stadpoit, puchig techology has improved greatly over the years. Hits per miute are up to 1,000. Cost of Operatio. Because most turret puch presses have moved to servo-electric power, fabricators o loger have to worry about oil chages ad filter maagemet. Servo-electric puch presses also are much more eergy-efficiet whe compared to the hydraulic couterparts of the past. But the equipmet is ot totally maiteace-free; mechaical drives ad wear items still require maiteace. Stad-Aloe Laser With 40 years of productio results behid it, CO2 laser techology is a kow etity i the metal fabricatig commuity. It proved icredibly useful for cuttig of 2-D shapes with may curves ad small features. Higherpowered resoators delivered that same usefuless for thicker materials. Advacemets i productio software ad cotrol techology helped to improve cuttig performace regardless of the operator s skill level may have bee. Automated fuctios, such as les chageout ad ozzle cleaig, helped to icrease productivity o these machies. Fiber laser techology (see Figure 2) has itroduced a large ad importat chapter to the story of the laser cuttig machie. The speeds at which these machies ca traverse the mai axes ad at the cuttig head axes (for those machies that ca make this type of movemet) have greatly surpassed CO2 lasers speed. The fiber-optic cable that delivers the laser to the cuttig head is extremely adaptable to higher speeds. I fact, the stateof-the-art machies equipped with multiple axes of movemet ca reach speeds of 10,000 IPM. This type of techology has the potetial to cut about 15 holes per secod, but it may ot be the best choice for a fabricator that has a lot of hole-itesive parts ad simple parts with kockouts. The puch is still a cost-effective optio for that type of fabricatio work. Fiber laser techology delivers a small beam focus with cosistet itesity, which makes it suitable for cuttig thi materials. CO2 lasers have a larger beam focus, which allows molte materials to escape more easily durig cuttig; this makes it the preferece for those fabricators that cosistetly cut material 0.25 i. thick or greater. Techology has emerged to allow a fiber laser to alter its beam size so that it ca cut thick materials efficietly, but at this poit, additioal optics techology has to be added to the laser. Fiber laser techology i its most basic setup has o eed for additioal optics. Fabricators Figure 2 Stad-Aloe Fiber Laser Cost-effective Holemakig: Yes Material Utilizatio: Excellet Secodary Operatios: Shaker parts, scrap hadlig, tab removal, deburrig Part Nestig: Good Formig: Noe Cotourig: Good Flexibility: Limited, flat process oly Combied Operatios: No Toolig Compatibility: N/A Part Quality: Good accuracy, high quality also do t have to worry about thigs like oil or filters. The techology s simplicity makes it attractive for fabricators eedig to miimize advaced traiig for operators or to itroduce less experieced workers to laser cuttig. It should be metioed that CO2 techology has advaced as well. Maiteace is still required, but ot as much as might have bee the case for machies made just five years ago. Because a fiber laser has a 1-micro wavelegth, it has the potetial to damage a operator s eyes permaetly. For this reaso the cuttig eviromet has to be totally eclosed with specially protected glass. There is o ope cuttig area as is foud o a CO2 laser. That same wavelegth, however, is absorbed well by a whole rage of materials. A fabricator ca use a fiber laser to cut brass Cotiued o page 10 PRIMAPOWER.COM 9

10 PRODUCT APPLICATION Puch it, Laser-cut it, or Somethig Else? The Sequel Cotiued from page 9 Figure 3 Puch/Laser Combiatio Cost-effective Holemakig: Yes Material Utilizatio: Excellet Secodary Operatios: Noe Part Nestig: Good Formig: Upformig with idexig, good cotrol, o markig Cotourig: Good with ibblig, wheel cuttig, or special toolig Flexibility: High, o special toolig required for flat process Combied Operatios: Yes with multiple toolig optios (tappig, markig, etc.) Toolig Compatibility: Existig toolig for puchig, ibblig, or formig Part Quality: Good accuracy, high quality ad copper, somethig that ca t be doe o a traditioal CO2 laser. Eve highly reflective material readily absorbs the beam s 1-micro wavelegth. The itroductio of a fiber laser cuttig machie disrupts work flow if the fabricator does ot pla for it. Because of its high cuttig speed o thi materials, parts are produced icredibly fast, which ca easily overwhelm the maual part removal operatio. Fabricators are advised to ivest i automated sheet delivery, part ad skeleto removal, ad part separatio techology to keep up with the machie s fast cuttig capability. Cost of Operatio. A fabricator still has to pay for laser gases, such as oxyge ad itroge, ad cuttig table material supports for both fiber ad CO2 laser cuttig techologies. A fiber laser will have a smaller day-to-day operatioal cost because it does t require as much power ad does ot have the same maiteace eeds as a CO2 laser. Puch/Laser Combiatio The machie is self-explaatory: It combies puchig ad laser cuttig i oe machie (see Figure 3). The puchig capability should be used for puchig, formig, ad prepiercig holes for cuttig. The laser is good for cuttig complex cotours o parts that require miimal markig or distortio or for parts for which toolig is ot available. (Prepiercig a hole with a turret puch ca help to elimiate the splatter ad sparkig that are typical with laser piercig.) This piece of equipmet is especially useful for fabricators worried about cycle time ad that wat to take the ecessary steps to elimiate additioal material hadlig. The biggest advacemet i combiatio machies is liked to fiber laser techology. CO2 laser sources have to be isolated from the puch so that vibratio-free cuttig ca take place. A fiber laser power source, o the other had, simply sits o the floor ext to the table, so vibratios hardly have ay effect o the laser cuttig; a reliable fiber-optic cable delivers the laser light from the power source to the cuttig head. Curretly the mechaics of a puchig table where the sheet is moved aroud limit the speed of the fiber laser. It simply is t desiged to equal the speeds of a stad-aloe fiber laser cuttig machie. If a puch/laser combiatio machie has a fiber laser, it eeds a complete protective eclosure aroud the process ad cuttig area. The fiber laser presets the same dager as the oes used o stad-aloe laser cuttig machies. The same automatio optios available for stad-aloe puchig ad laser cuttig machies ca be added to combiatio equipmet. Cost of Operatio. The emergece of servo-electric-powered puchig ad fiber laser techology has resulted i eergy-sippig machies whe compared to combiatio machies of the past, especially cosiderig that the CO2 laser had to be kept live, eve whe ot cuttig, so that it could be ready to go at ay time. If a fabricator elected to go with the more cost-effective CO2 laser techology, the shop would have to be cocered with regular maiteace costs for cosumables ad resoator ad turbie work. Puch/Shear Combiatio The turret puch press/right-agle shear combiatio (see Figure 4 o back page) is a ecoomical equipmet choice for a variety of parts, but particularly rectagular parts. If a fabricator makes ay type of boxes o a regular basis, this machie does the job quickly ad efficietly. But that does t mea other parts ca t be made as well. Parts with two or three straight edges are a suitable fit for the right-agle shear. The machie ca deliver fiished parts with scrap separated. Agai, as with the puch/ laser combiatio, the goal is for parts to move from this machie to fial productio stages without the eed for secodary operatios. Whe the shear is used to cut exteral cotours, tool marks o parts are miimized. The use of the shear also helps to miimize wear o the toolig. The puchig capabilities of the machie mimic those of the stadaloe puch press. The machie ca be operated as just a shear as well. Blaks that are square to withi i. ca be product quickly. 10 July 2015 Cotiued o back page

11 NEW PRODUCT Laser Next The New 3D Laser System for Automotive Productio Laser Next is the fastest 3D fiber laser machie i the world. Desiged for itesive cuttig of hot-formed parts for the automotive idustry, the ew Laser Next, meets the three major automotive customers demads: icreased productivity; reduced equipmet footprit; ad lower maiteace dowtime ad o-productive times. Automotive part maufacturers eed highly-specialized products for the cuttig of sheet metal parts, capable of aswerig to all their specific requiremets. Thaks to a deep ad uique experiece of over 35 years i this field ad to a cotiuous dialogue with customers ad parters operatig i the car idustry, Prima Power has desiged the ew 3D laser machie for automotive productio: Laser Next. I developig Laser Next, Prima Power has focused o the achievemet of the followig mai beefits for the user: 1. Maximizig throughput thaks to a dramatic reductio of cycle times. Durig the last 10 years, the performace of Prima Power 3D laser machies for automotive applicatios has bee growig steadily. With Laser Next, a fudametal step forward was made: productivity o a typical bechmark compoet (B-pillar) was raised by 25%. I other words, four Laser Next systems produce as much as five machies of the previous model. 3. Improved Overall Equipmet Efficiecy (OEE). For Laser Next, Prima Power capitalized o its kow-how of hudreds of istallatios for the 24/7 maufacturig of High Stregth Steel compoets, widely used i car productio. Every sigle detail was studied ad developed to maximize machie uptime. Maiteace was also lowered ad simplified to reduce o-productive times ad the eed of specialized resources dedicated to these activities. At the base of this result, there is the best dyamic performace o the market for a 3D laser machie (208 m/mi trajectory speed ad 2.1 g acceleratio), grated by the use of highly iovative solutios ad materials for kiematics ad machie structure such as, direct motors ad trasducers for mai axes ad focusig head, ad machie frame i sythetic graite with optimized shape. 2. Space-efficiet layout both for stad-aloe ad multi-machie cofiguratio. Space is moey, ad a well-coceived layout helps save square meters ad optimizes plat logistics. The compactess of the istallatio further improves istallig more machies, sice you ca have up to three uits oe ext to the other coected to the same magetic scrap coveyor, with o eed of excavatio works. Give the same area, i fact, it is possible to istall more machies (e.g. four Laser Next istead of three uits of the previous model). Cosiderig the performace of Laser Next, the productivity per square meter ratio is simply astoishig. Laser Next has a workig rage of 3,050 x 1,530 x 612 mm ad is equipped with 3 kw or 4 kw high brilliace fiber laser. Its compact focusig head, fully sealed for best protectio, features direct drive motors, double protectio SIPS, fully-metallic sesor, ad Focal Positio Cotrol. The high-precisio ad dyamic turtable with servo motor ad absolute ecoder is desiged to esure the highest reliability, safety ad ergoomics. Thaks to reduced blockig times, the distace betwee table ad light curtais is very short, allowig faster ad more comfortable loadig/uloadig operatios i full safety. PRIMAPOWER.COM 11

12 CUSTOMER PROFILE Automatio A Game Chager for Italia Maufacturer By Vittorio Pesce To better uderstad the growig importace of laser cuttig automatio systems, we recetly visited MAI S.r.l. (Salvirola, i the provice of Cremoa). This compay has 17 employees ad has bee active i the field of sheet metal processig sice Accordig to Adrea Iacomelli, sales maager, MAI is multi-faceted ad is directed maily to the sectors of electrical distributio, professioal cleaig machies, vedig machies, machies for the textile idustry, domestic ad idustrial heatig, etc. Sice 2002, the compay has achieved a ew level i its productio process by itroducig differet i-house processig techologies over the years, such as robotic press-bedig, puchig combied with shearig, ad both CO2 ad fiber laser cuttig capability. Today, our philosophy is to maage our customers etire order, startig from the product egieerig to the delivery, icludig the weldig, paitig, assembly ad packagig, explais Iacomelli. We were iitially skeptical about the use of laser fiber, but we immediately chaged our mids, because it is a very reliable, fast, easy to use, ad above all, very versatile machie. The compay s stregth is the high level of automatio achieved by highly sophisticated equipmet ad software, which make it possible to meet the various customer requiremets i a short time. We seek to build log-term relatioships with customers with large volumes of productio o log-rage, eve if the idividual batches are very fragmeted ad typically cosistig of just pieces. It is the level of automatio that allows us to chage the type of piece to produce very frequetly ad to be competitive i the productio of parts i small quatities, says Iacomelli. The Right Choice A collaboratio that bega i 2005 betwee MAI ad Prima Power was essetial i achievig a high level of moderizatio ad iovatio despite the small busiess size. I 2014 we decided to ivest i a ew laser cuttig machie, recouts Iacomelli. After a period of research ad review with the Cristiao Porrati, South Europe Sales Maager of Prima Power (left) shakes hads with Adrea Iacomelli, sales maager of M.A.I. srl. Prima Power techicias, we chose the 2D PLATINO Fiber machie with 4 kw source. We were iitially skeptical about the use of laser fiber, but we immediately chaged our mids, because it is a very reliable, fast, easy to use, ad above all, very versatile machie. The PLATINO fiber laser has allowed the compay to cut ay type of material, such as iro, steel, stailess steel, Aluzic, alumiium etc., ad to cover the full rage of MAI s productio up to 4 mm. We have added a loadig/uloadig system ad a sortig ad automatic stackig system, called LST i order to esure versatile ad fully automated productio, says Iacomelli. The Versatile ad Efficiet Fiber The Platio fiber s small wavelegths cut a wide rage of materials, eve those highly reflective materials such as alumiium alloys, copper, brass, etc. There are may beefits of usig this machie, icludig very low eergy cosumptio, high beam quality, absece of laser gas, low maiteace, compactess ad ease of use. Accordig to Cristiao Porrati, Prima Power s Vice Chairma South Europe, Sub-Regio Maager, The latest geeratio of Prima Power s umeric cotrol is ituitive ad fuctioal, ad provides high computig power ad advaced algorithms for the optimal maagemet of cuttig trajectories. Piece processed M.A.I. with the Platio Fiber of Prima Power. 12 July 2015 Detail of a piece machiig produced by M.A.I. ad maufactured with Platio Fiber of Prima Power. The laser head is equipped with a sigle focusig les adapted to ay type of cut. This makes it possible to chage the productio without iterruptios ad loss of time. Guarateed ad Orgaized Stackig The LST is Prima Power s iovative automatic stackig system that ca be matched to the Zaphiro ad PLATINO laser machies. The LST avoids the maual separatio of fiished parts from the sheet metal skeleto, thereby reducig huma itervetio, icreasig the fiished product quality ad expadig the productivity level eve i umaed operatio.

13 This is achieved by meas of a sophisticated robot which collects the pieces oe by oe directly from the cuttig head ad stacks them accurately o tables, or o trolleys, or deposits them i the dedicated boxes. The LST is a radically differet solutio, available i both short (PS) ad log (PL) versio to meet specific process ad layout eeds. It collects ad stacks each piece accordig to programmed coordiates. This allows the possibility to freely arrage the stacks of material accordig to the productio eeds. The automatic stackig system is associated with NC Express, the CAD/CAM software for the automatic programmig of laser cuttig ad pick-up ad stackig fuctios of the LST system, by Tulus graphical user iterface with icos. Laser head of Platio Fiber i a cuttig operatio. System with Platio Fiber ad Compact Server for hadlig sheets. Results Above Expectatios The system, cosistig of the laser fiber 2D PLATINO ad the Prima Power LST automatic sortig ad stackig system, has bee operatig at the moder plat i Salvirola sice Jauary After a few moths of operatio, the compay maagers were well pleased with the system s performace. The automatic stackig system was already kow to us, ad we were sure of its quality, explais Iacomelli. As for the fiber cut, my iitial cocers have bee allayed. I did ot thik this techology would prove to be so efficiet ad reliable, as well as fast ad precise. I fact, Platio Fiber with LST. compared to the previous geeratio machie with CO2 source, the fiber has allowed us to ot oly reduce eergy cosumptio, but also to cut productio times i half. I did ot thik this techology would prove to be so efficiet ad reliable, as well as fast ad precise. I fact, compared to the previous geeratio machie with CO2 source, the fiber has allowed us to ot oly reduce eergy cosumptio, but also to cut productio times i half. These advatages may allow the compay to acquire ew cotracts, expad the market ad icrease the volume of work. Furthermore, sice the uloadig, scrap separatio ad piece stackig are maaged by the LST system automatically, today workers that were oce resposible for these activities may be reassiged to more productive operatios. It is a huge savigs, ad therefore a further reductio i our cost per piece, adds Iacomelli. The 2D PLATINO fiber laser with LST automatic piece detachmet, sortig ad stackig system tured us ito a versatile, lea, ad advaced compay i the field of automated flexible productio. More simply, it allows us to offer the market highquality products with very competitive costs. The 2D PLATINO fiber laser with LST automatic piece detachmet, sortig ad stackig system tured us ito a versatile, lea, ad advaced compay i the field of automated flexible productio. More simply, it allows us to offer the market high-quality products with very competitive costs. Future Growth We have very clear ideas, cocludes Iacomelli. Our goal is to build a cuttig, puchig ad shearig productio uit with automatic warehouse, i order to brig the productio processes to a eve higher level of Compact Server for loadig ad uloadig blaks ad flexible automatio. Ours processed sheets. is a compay that is still operatig o a little more tha regioal level, but we believe that the potetial of the compay is such that we ca greatly elarge the market area. Soo we will try to attack a little more of the domestic market, but the most ambitious goal for the ext two-year period is to iteratioalize the compay, lookig for customers across the border. This article was traslated, edited, ad reprited from the September 2015 issue of LAMIERA Magazie. PRIMAPOWER.COM 13

14 FLEXIBLE AUTOMATION Flexible Automatio i Sheet Metal Processig By Jae Mäkelä, Product Maager, The System, Prima Power Flexible Automatio i Maufacturig Lies Prima Power has extesive experiece i differet techologies (puchig, right-agle shearig, laser cuttig, bedig, etc.) ad maufacturig lies i which sheet metal processig adapts to chagig productio demads i a fast ad flexible maer. At its best, a automatic maufacturig lie is agile i fast productio chages ad ca fuctio o a oe-piece flow priciple. It is importat to esure fast ad flexible availability of material, correct processig techologies, ad sufficiet tool capacity for maufacturig differet compoets to avoid dowtimes caused by toolig set-up. Prima Power has extesive experiece i differet techologies (puchig, right-agle shearig, laser cuttig, bedig, etc.) ad maufacturig lies i which sheet metal processig adapts to chagig productio demads i a fast ad flexible maer. Ford is a household ame i the history of idustrial automatio. While Hery Ford did ot ivet the assembly lie, he started usig it o a large scale i The word automatio was itroduced to the Eglish laguage i 1948, whe it was coied by oe of Ford s executives, Delmar S. Harder. bedig Sice the, flexible automatio solutios have bee developed to complemet rigid automatio i sheet metal processig. The first sigificat steps were take by automatig idividual machies by equippig machies with automatic tool chage. A essetial developmet has bee the automatig of material flow by movig from idividual machies to cell level by itegratig work stages. Puchig ad shearig or puchig ad laser cuttig cells are good examples. Naturally, the automatio of raw material storage ad material hadlig play a key role. Flexibly automated sheet metal processig is iheretly LEAN, which is revealed by the list of elimiated or reduced wastes, such as trasportatio, ivetory, motio, wait time, overproductio, overprocessig, ad defects. Flexible automatio allows meaigful job profiles ad, thus, helps create a healthier work commuity. Oe icetive is corporate image. For example, a large part of the world s sheet metal compoets are produced by subcotractors. Productio itself is their product, ad, therefore, the choice of productio methods is sigificat for the compay s image. The mai priciple of a flexible maufacturig lie is to avoid maufacturig stages that do ot add value to the product. Fuctioal maufacturig may cotai several of these: trasferrig a sheet stack to the warehouse ad storig it trasferrig the required sheets to the maufacturig cell maufacturig a batch o a puchig machie trasferrig the batch for bedig trasferrig the bet pieces to the warehouse pickig for assembly I a sheet metal maufacturig lie, most of the above-metioed maufacturig stages ca be elimiated, ad, thus, it is possible to cocetrate o stages that add value to the product. This meas cosiderable savigs i the employees workig time, ad productio maagemet becomes a sigle step. I fuctioal productio, batch sizes vary accordig to the requiremets of maufacturig executio ad efficiecy. Correspodigly, this bids more assets to itermediate buffers ad storage of semi-fiished products. Such batch productio is also possible with a flexible maufacturig lie, but cotemporary maufacturig executio software eables efficiet productio accordig to eeds, whether by applyig pulltype maufacturig for the assembly or maufacturig the parts of a sigle product all at oce. I both cases, tied-up capital remais small ad itermediate buffers of half-fiished products are practically oexistet. 14 July 2015

15 PSBB Lie The Prima Power PSBB lie itegrates puchig, shearig, bufferig, ad bedig. The key beefits iclude oe-piece flow, fast availability ad chagig of material, ad the possibility of umaed use. Pieces ca be brought from outside sources to the productio flow, ad all material trasfers are automatic. Software Oe of the corerstoes of automatig etire maufacturig lies ad maagig them is a maufacturig executio system with which productio ca be ru ratioally from the order to a fiished product. New-geeratio itelliget software solutios ca do this, ad they are very straightforward to use i relatio to their performace. 1 automatic storage; loadig of sheet stacks or idividual sheets 2 loadig device 3 puchig ad right-agle shearig 4 right-agle shearig 5 waste disposal 6 sortig of fiished pieces 7 bufferig 8 loadig ad stackig robot 9 bufferig of bet pieces 10 positioig coveyor 11 loadig ad uloadig wago 12 turig device 13 loadig device of the automatic bedig cell 14 bedig cell 15 uloadig 16 user iterface Material Flow as Required There are several iterchageable ways to arrage the material flow: straight from puchig ad right-agle shearig to bedig bufferig o the whole stackig area simultaeous stackig o the tables/wagos ad brigig the parts to bedig umaed stackig i the whole stackig area PRIMAPOWER.COM 15

16 CUSTOMER PROFILE Shear Geius Cells Are the Recipe for Higher Productivity at Imperial Cookig Equipmet Sice its iceptio i 1957, Imperial Commercial Cookig Equipmet, Coroa, CA, has remaied a family-owed compay whose missio is to be the preferred global supplier of high-quality, top-value cookig equipmet to the foodservice idustry. Imperial utilizes highly-skilled employees combied with iovative maufacturig processes. Its customers iclude everythig from major restaurat ad grocery store chais to small family restaurats. Today, the compay has evolved ito a major player i the food service equipmet idustry with a 100,000-square-foot facility. We either itroduce a ew product or update a existig product every year, explais Matt Wise, geeral maager. Imperial also cotiually ivests i state-of-the-art techology ad machiery as part of the commitmet to future growth. I the sheet metal fabricatio area, the compay has had a log ad successful history with the Prima Power Shear Geius itegrated puch/shear cell. We purchased the first two Shear Geius cells i 1996, says Wise. These hydraulic models served us well util we replaced them with the ewest geeratio of servo-electric Shear Geius models i 2013 ad Sice its iceptio i 1957, Imperial Commercial Cookig Equipmet, Coroa, CA, has remaied a family-owed compay whose missio is to be the preferred global supplier of high-quality, top-value cookig equipmet to the foodservice idustry. Imperial s customers iclude everythig from major restaurat ad grocery store chais to small family restaurats. Servo-Electric Shear Geius With the Shear Geius cocept, the objective is to provide a machie capable of trasformig a full-size sheet ito fiished parts. These parts ca be moved to the fial productio stages for immediate itegratio directly ito the fial product assembly. The heart of the Shear Geius SGe is a updated servo-electric 30-metric to puchig machie with 1,000 hpm stroke speed, 250 rpm idex speed ad 150 m/mi sheet positioig speed. The right-agle shear has a servo-electric actuatio system, which makes shear movemet both fast ad fully CNC cotrolled for optimum productivity. Material thickess i shearig ca be up to 5 mm (Al), 4 mm (mild steel) ad 3 mm (stailess steel). Automatic loadig has bee itegrated, ad both part removal ad part sortig are programmable ad automatic. 16 July 2015 Matt Wise, geeral maager, has a log ad successful history with the Prima Power Shear Geius itegrated puch/shear cell. He purchased the first two Shear Geius cells i 1996, ad replaced them with the ewest geeratio of servoelectric Shear Geius models i 2013 ad The SGe is able to perform the most demadig jobs with miimal set-up times ad lights out umaed operatios. Shear Geius icreases material productivity through efficiet ad versatile estig programs. As loadig, puchig, formig & upformig, uloadig, sortig, ad stackig become automated, the result is a fiished part with a dramatic reductio i scrap ad maual labor while icreasig productivity. The level of automatio ca be customized through Prima Power s flexible modular solutios for raw material storage & maagemet, loadig, uloadig, sortig, ad stackig. These features ca be added later as budget allows ad productio demads icrease or chage. The SGe ease of operatio does ot compromise the cell s per-miute part productio, flexibility, or ability to fabricate complex parts. O average, compared with a stad-aloe turret puch press, the SGe reduces total maufacturig time by 60%. Our older Shear Geius cells were the hydraulic desig from the 1990s ad were really good, explais Wise. However, the ew servo-electric models are faster, require less maiteace, provide loger tool ad shear blade life, ad are much easier to program. We used to ru the old machies two shifts. Today, we are ruig all productio o the two servo-electric Shear The ew SGes have helped us double our productivity. We ca go from sheet to part without re-clampig. Ulike their competitors, Shear Geius puchig ad shearig utilize the same clamp...so productio is cotiuous. Aother positive beefit is that we have goe from a 100 amp circuit to a 50 amp circuit for the machies, which traslates ito a icredible power savigs.