FOCUS ON LASER CUTTING
Partners in progress Moving together in one direction . From left : Stefan Tenhumberg , Ingo Staudinger and Mechthild Beuting .
“ The ELEMENT L for Beuting was our prototype for new laser cutting machines that went beyond the 6kW limit that had existed for years . The highest priority was to secure the combination of new machine , new Global Connect control and LNC as a prerequisite for automation . The alliance with our partner Beuting helped us to bring the project to market maturity together under production conditions ,” outlined Ingo Staudinger .
Alfred Beuting , managing director of the company , summed it up : “ Everyone involved , including the management of Messer Cutting Systems , has repeatedly contributed to solving pending , sometimes very difficult , tasks . Open communication and the fact that we have known and valued each other for many years helped us a lot . The project was a stress test for our long-standing business relationship . While we ’ re still not quite there , both sides are optimistic that we will be shortly .”
The business relationship between the two companies began in 2006 . At that time , Messer Cutting Systems qualified Beuting as a supplier for environmental technology . The cooperation resulted in an extensive range of products , some of which were jointly developed , such as vibratory conveyor tables ; belt conveyor tables ; filter systems ; water conveyor tables ; shuttle table systems etc . Over the years , however , the business relationship developed into a partnership on an equal footing .
The integration of the ELEMENT 400 L with LNC and Global Connect into Beuting ’ s
production became a joint development project . Beuting only acquired the prototype because there was a close , long-term relationship . It was able to contribute a great deal of its own expertise into the cutting process . Introduction of the new products also brought the cooperation to a new level as a development partnership in which both were willing to take risks to open up new opportunities .
“ Our partnership has emerged stronger from the project . It has brought both sides much further and improved our market
Left : Intuitive operation , paper saving and a digital overview of all production data from the new Global Connect CNC control with 18.5-inch touchscreen .
The new , highly dynamic laser bevel unit , Bevel-U , is designed for the production of precise and repeatable bevel parts ( a major benefit when preparing edges for automated robotic welding ).
A selection of laser-cut parts at Beuting Metalltechnik GmbH & Co . KG . positions ,” summarised Alfred Beuting . Ingo Staudinger agreed : “ By combining the Messer machines with the environmental technology from Beuting , we have developed a competitive advantage together . Both sides benefit from the close cooperation . We pay attention to the interests of each other in dialogue with our customers . We were always able to find a solution , even for difficult tasks .”
Open communication , mutual trust , a common focus on the benefit to the end customer and the will to innovate are , both parties agreed , guarantors of success .
From plasma to laser
Even if not all the issues have been resolved , the experience to date is clear .
“ The precision with which the machine cuts the components has clearly exceeded our expectations . One of our customers can now weld all the parts automatically and only wants components from this machine . We now automatically cut a wide variety of structural steels and fine-grain structural steels , even with different surface qualities , without manual intervention . The cutting times , compared to the plasma cutting process , have been significantly reduced with the same assemblies . Our operators are happy with better working conditions ( in terms of dirt and noise ) and have a lot of fun working with the new machine and its new control system ,” highlighted Stefan Tenhumberg .
With laser cutting , the kerf is very small compared to other thermal cutting processes . This is due to the small focus of the laser beam . Heat input into the material is very low , so that even small geometries can be cut .