Cost savings with lasers

Abstract

Cost savings in manufacturing is one of the best arguments for justification of new equipment. These cost savings are usually in the form of labor reduction, in-creased production rates or improved reliability and versatility of the equipment. An-other area sometimes overlooked is the reduction of scrap material. If parts can be manufactured with less waste, then not only is money saved but there is also a reduc-tion in labor costs in the form of less handling, storage and removal or disposal of the waste product.As manufacturing costs constantly rise, lasers are becoming more common in the manufacturing environment. This is due to the versatility of lasers. Although the applications of lasers have not changed drastically in the past few years, (approx. 85% of CO2 lasers used worldwide are for cutting, with about 10% for welding and the rest used in surface modification), there has been a dramatic increase in the use of a single laser for multiple applications.An example of this is precutting parts to be rewelded and perhaps recut prior to stamping or forming. By welding odd shaped pieces to the desired part, tooling is simplified and produces a saving on scrap material. Another benefit of this type of processing is quick part turn around, because there is no long wait for customized costly stamping dies to be made.Cost savings in manufacturing is one of the best arguments for justification of new equipment. These cost savings are usually in the form of labor reduction, in-creased production rates or improved reliability and versatility of the equipment. An-other area sometimes overlooked is the reduction of scrap material. If parts can be manufactured with less waste, then not only is money saved but there is also a reduc-tion in labor costs in the form of less handling, storage and removal or disposal of the waste product.As manufacturing costs constantly rise, lasers are becoming more common in the manufacturing environment. This is due to the versatility of lasers. Although the applications of lasers have not changed drastically in the past few years, (approx. 85% of CO2 lasers used worldwide are for cutting, with about 10% for welding and the rest used in surface modification), there has been a dramatic increase in the use of a single laser for multiple applications.An example of this is precutting parts to be ...