Page 22 - MetalForming February 2013

High-Mix Low-Volume Fab
type of work on the new machine.” Most (70 percent) of the material that runs through Laystrom’s laser-pro- duction cell, and moves onto a series of press brakes for forming, comprises carbon steel. And some 30 percent of that work winds up in assemblies for the firm’s largest customer, an OEM manufacturer of agricultural machin- ery. Stainless-steel sheet represents another 15 percent of the work load, much of it for the power-distribution
industry.
“This (stainless steel) is where the
piercing capabilities of the FOM2 real- ly pays off,” says Laystrom. “We can laser-cut holes in stainless-steel panels rather than having to process the work on a turret press, and avoid the extra material-handling operations. In fact, with the new laser we’ve been able to decommission three of our four turret- punch presses.”
Laystrom’s fabrication department processes material from 0.030 to 1⁄4 in. thick, with plenty falling within 0.030
in. to 14 gauge. Sheet size has grown as the firm has replaced its original 1998- vintage laser (48 by 48 in. sheet capac- ity) to a maximum of 60 by 120 in. In addition to supplying the agricultural market, Laystrom has a sizable cus- tomer base for precision stamped and fabricated parts in the medical and telecommunications industries—each comprises 20 percent of its workload.
Attacking the Cost of Quality
When we visited the firm, Laystrom’s brother Jim was busy developing a new process-validation methodology to help the firm minimize its cost of qual- ity. “We’re piloting a process to shift from product validation to process val- idation,” says engineering manager Jim Laystrom. “To get started, we’re creat- ing standard coupons of varying com- binations of workpiece material types and thicknesses, and laser-cutting the coupons to develop acceptable cut quality, then documenting the process 4 third-, and fourth-run parts orders
that have gone through the laser one time will not require first-part inspec- tion from our quality-control depart- ment. Instead, the machine operator will simply compare the part to the coupon, verify proper process settings —optics, cutting parameters and so on —and he’ll be good to go. This will dra- matically decrease our quality costs and increase machine run time.”
Also impacting quality has been the firm’s dedication to maintaining the integrity of the cutting bed, an egg- crate-style bed comprised of V-cut slats of sheetmetal. “As the slats wear from use, the workpiece material may move out of level, which can impact cut-edge quality,” says manufacturing engineer Terry Foley. “So we ask our operators to keep a close eye on the condition of the cutting-machine beds and change out the slats—which we cut ourselves— regularly. This is particularly impor- tant when working with thinner work. And, when jobs run lights-out, any quality issues caused by out-of-level work will compound sheet after sheet. We certainly don’t want a quality issue to persist through an entire untended shift.”
Lastly, cut-edge quality took a turn for the better when, in 2008, the firm committed to using nitrogen assist gas, rather than oxygen, on any work thick- er than 11 gauge. “Nitrogen cuts faster and improves edge quality to help avoid deburring and improve paint adhesion,” says laser technician Hugo Vega. “We’ve been taking on more stainless-steel work and heavier-gauge mild steel,” adds manufacturing man- ager Eric Hauser.
To support its nitrogen habit, Lay- strom purchased two Amada EZ Cut nitrogen-generating systems. Com- pared to using bottled nitrogen, accord- ing to Amada, using generated nitrogen (95 percent pure) will provide a more polished finish on thin-gauge stain- less steel.
Finally, Hauser notes that some cus- tomers in the medical and power-dis- tribution industry have been request- ing laser cutting with 99-percent pure nitrogen. To meet that need, Laystrom
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