FOCUS ON PLASMA CUTTING
“ We looked at several options and then an industry contact suggested that we spoke to Kerf . As a company with a complete range of plasma , waterjet and oxy-fuel cutting machines , Kerf recommended its RUR2500 UltraSharp plasma-cutting machine with a Lincoln Electric Fineline 170 , 170-amp plasmacutting system ,” he continued .
Productivity benefits
At that time , Serious Stages was sending more than £ 500,000 of work out for laser cutting and the lead time was typically three to five weeks . With the 500 + annual structures requiring thousands of parts to be manufactured and shipped around the UK to complete a 150-180- tonne structure , the process is a logistical minefield . Serious Stages wanted to manage its inventory , reduce costs and cut lead times to less than a week whilst also having full control over the process . Kerf delivered the solution .
“ We produce tens of
A 25m space roof built by Serious Stages .
thousands of cleats , fixtures , clamps and other components for our structures and they are all made from 3-20mm thick mild steel with a typical tolerance band of +/ -0.5mm . Taking these factors into account , Craig Walsh from Kerf recommended the UltraSharp plasma machine over a laser and it is perfect for our business . It is running 10-11 hours per day and six hours per day on weekends ,” outlined Rob Watts .
“ The surface and edge finish are comparable to laser-cut parts but , more importantly , we have wiped out the long lead times and we can make parts immediately for our fabricating team to weld . Deadlines are critical to our business . You cannot be overdue on a festival – the structure has to be safely installed and assembled to the event deadline ,” he added .
Describing the attributes of the 4m x 2m Kerf RUR2500 machine , Rob continued : “ The Fineline 170HD , 170-amp plasma unit gives us exceptional cut quality and we can comfortably cut material of up to 50mm thick , even though we rarely go above 20mm . The cutting head is extremely efficient and we can conduct over 3,000 piercings before we have to change the nozzle heads . Additionally , the Burny 10LCD control system is extremely easy to operate and , if we have any issues , the Kerf engineers can remotely log into the machine to immediately resolve any technical issues . The Kerf support is the best we have encountered from any machine supplier so far .”
Design for manufacture
With the installation of the Kerf RUR2500 , Serious Stages has greater design freedom to develop new parts , enhance its existing portfolio of products and design parts for both manufacture and assembly .
As Rob Watts highlighted : “ When we were subcontracting out laser cutting , our design freedom was limited . If our designers wanted to change a drawing , alter dimensions or move features – we would have to create a new drawing , send it to the subcontract supplier and wait for them to produce the part and send it to us . We could be waiting weeks for the part and if the design change wasn ’ t feasible , we would have to start again . The time constraints on our business limited this exercise . Now , a designer can create a new CAD file , use the Lantek software to convert the DXF file to a CAM file and then fire it straight to the Kerf RUR2500 .
“ We can edit existing programs in minutes and create new part drawings and send them straight to the Kerf machine , giving our designers complete autonomy with production . This will enable us to expand our current capabilities and flexibility and as we re-design parts , we will see manufacturing and fabrication times throughout the facility reduced . This design freedom will also reduce construction time for our on-site building teams ,” he continued .
The Kerf RUR2500 machine in action .
Plasma cutting process
Plasma cutters use plasma to cut metals such as steel and aluminium . Plasma cutters pass an electrical arc through gas ( often compressed air ) which converts into a plasma arc used to cut through the metal .
The interaction of gases , high speeds and a concentrated region of pressure results in electrically conductive ionised gas , commonly known as plasma . This technique is used on metals that cannot be cut with flame-cutting equipment .
Developments and enhancements to control , plasma and software systems in plasma-cutting machinery have enabled significant improvements in cut quality and capability . Bolt-ready holes can be cut without the need for any subsequent rework , and the edge quality , even on thicker materials , is excellent . High-definition plasma cutting is suitable for mild steel , stainless steel and aluminium profile cutting .
One example that has already benefited the company is the design change to its railings . Where Serious Stages ’ on-site team had to bolt sections of railings together , now it has added location pins and each section can rapidly be dropped into place to connect with the next . This is just one area where it is already using design for assembly to speed up its construction phase .
Supporting heavy workloads
With Serious Stages winning an order from the ‘ Mission Impossible ’ franchise and orders quickly arriving from other film studios , the subcontract laser cutting cost was rapidly heading from £ 500,000 to £ 750,000 . This made the decision to invest in the Kerf machine more pertinent .
Commenting upon this , Rob Watts