Page 25 - MetalForming January 2016

On the cutting table when we spoke with Perry: mounting brackets for cranes (left) and parts for steel benches, all of 1⁄2 in. steel.
totaling 70,000 sq. ft. under roof, and boasts 35 employees. Its equipment list includes 3⁄4- and 3⁄8-in.-capacity plate rolls, 10- and 16-ft. shears, a 16-in. press brake, an 18 by 25-ft. oxyfuel cut- ting machine (recently refurbished) and two laser-cutting machines, including its new Mazak powerhouse. In the shop when we spoke with Perry: thousands of pounds of sheet and plate being fabricated for renovation of 116 bus-stop shelters and advertisement boxes as part of the Flamingo Rd. cor- ridor improvement project.
“We acquired our first laser cutter, a 2500-W used CO2 machine, in 2009,” recalls Perry, “and it has proved very productive on steel sheet to about 3⁄8 in. thick. Compared to our workhorse oxy- fuel-cutting machine, the cuts were significantly better on that range of material. Customers at that time were demanding better accuracy and the laser provided that. And, cleaner edges meant little to no post-cut edge prep prior to welding.
“More recently,” Perry continues, “our market has created opportunities to grow into high-precision thicker- plate fabrication, 1⁄4 to 1 in., which led us to begin a search for a higher-power cutting system.”
Jackpot
The search ended in September 2015 when P&S welcomed its new Opti-
plex 3015, which Perry says has taken over all of the thin-sheet cutting previ- ously done on the older laser-cutting machine while also allowing the firm to bring in a significant amount of new, thicker work.
“The new laser has attracted sever- al new customers,” he says, “includ- ing a local crane manufacturer. We’re cutting a lot 1⁄4 to 3⁄4 in. steel on the Optiplex, and even some 1-in. materi- al, meeting very tight tolerance require- ments—plus or minus 0.010 in.”
Mazak rates the 4000-W machine for cutting mild steel to 1 in. thick, stainless steel to 0.5 in. and aluminum to 3⁄8 in. Positioning accuracy in the x-y directions (rack-and-pinion drives) is 0.002 in./20 in.
Perry considers the new cutting machine “the gift that keeps on giv- ing,” because not only has it helped to bring in new customers, but it’s also opened up capacity on the older laser machine and on the oxyfuel-cutting machine. P&S now can schedule more thin-gauge work on the older laser, and take in more heavy-gauge (1 in. and thicker) work on the oxyfuel machine.
“And, we’re even more responsive to quick-turnaround customer requests,” adds Perry, “than we were before, often delivering jobs that used to take 2 or 3 days to complete in one day.
Staggered Shifts Keeps the Beam On
P&S operates the Optiplex 10 hr./day. Perry staggers his one-shift operation with one laser operator arriv- ing 2 hr. earlier than the second. This allows the early arriver to immediately launch production of jobs that have been staged by the late arriver the pre- vious evening.
In addition to cutting crane parts, P&S has loaded up the Optiplex with highway signage, guard rails and metal sculpture. And, Perry expects his high- way business to boom throughout 2016, as construction on the new Inter- state 11 gathers momentum. According to a fact sheet describing the new inter- state, Las Vegas and Phoenix are the only two U.S. cities with more than 1 million residents not linked by an inter- state. When completed (in 2018), the four-lane I-11 will link Arizona and Nevada. And along the route, drivers will have some very interesting deco- rative artwork to gaze at, thanks to P&S Metals.
“We are the primary steel fabricator for the project,” says Perry. “That proj- ect alone will bring us more than $500,000 worth of business, including laser cutting of signs, guardrails and some 30 metal sculptures, as large as 10 ft. tall by 5 ft. wide cut from plate 3⁄8 to 5⁄8 in. thick.”
That work hits the shop early in 2016. MF
www.metalformingmagazine.com
MetalForming/January 2016 23