How much laser cutting power do metalworking companies need?

The laser cutting power race is on again. This competition was seen in the 1990s and early 2000s with CO2 laser cutting machines, and now fiber laser cutting machines are making a comeback. While ultra-high power systems have their place, low-power systems are equally indispensable. So, which laser power is best suited for your application?

You can start by researching the thickness, grade, and geometry of the material being cut. But before diving into the details, it's helpful to think outside the box and examine your business holistically. Consider the relationships between four aspects of your business: customers, resources, capabilities, and operating costs. The first aspect, customer composition, determines the direction of the other three, and all four aspects influence which fiber laser is best suited for your business.

Customers
A store's customer mix determines its business model. In the metalworking industry, business models typically fall into one or more of three categories: Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs, or line manufacturers), contract manufacturing, and processing workshops.

Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) develop internal processes based on the needs of their own products. Equipment will be customized, and production will be adjusted and scheduled to achieve stable, predictable output and minimize waste. Product demand determines production speed.

Resources
Processing companies can utilize five categories of resources. The first is facilities, including workshop area, available idle space, and the efficiency of all space utilization. Furthermore, it's important to note that one of the most easily overlooked aspects here is material handling. Can existing equipment handle the flow of raw materials and products?

The second point is staffing. What are their skills? What training have they received? Are their knowledge records complete? Who is nearing retirement? Can the company effectively fill vacancies, recruit, and develop talent? How do their experiences in laser cutting compare to those in related processes such as stamping? No matter how powerful a laser cutting machine is, it requires skilled operators.

The third resource is closely related to the second: available labor hours. How many shifts do employees typically work? Can the store increase shifts if needed? Conversely, if a company increases capacity, can it meet production demands with just one shift, thus eliminating the need for a second shift?

The fourth resource is equipment, including how the company measures its efficiency and maintenance costs. The fifth resource involves external resources. This includes relationships between the workshop and other processors capable of handling overflow orders (impacting the operation's ability to cope with peak demand), as well as external service providers such as powder coating and electroplating. If most of the work must be outsourced to external service providers who cannot handle the increased order volume, then the effectiveness of increasing laser cutting capacity will be significantly reduced.

These five resource areas can be viewed as "knobs" that can be "adjusted" according to the needs of the customer mix. For example, a factory with limited space but ample labor, capable of disassembly and downstream processing, can invest in several ultra-high-power lasers for forming, welding, and final assembly processes, expanding to multiple shifts during peak periods. These high-power lasers make sense if shifts cannot be increased, but the factory has a large amount of "planar-only" laser cutting work. If automation is also invested in, the lasers can operate unattended over the weekend and ship parts to customers first thing Monday morning. On the other hand, if demand requires downstream resources that cannot be met, then simply increasing laser cutting power is not an effective way to utilize resources.

Capabilities
This includes the entire manufacturing process from order to shipment—quoting, engineering, blanking, bending, welding, painting, assembly, and shipping—and the characteristics of the parts and components flowing through these processes. Looking at the problem holistically is crucial. How are orders generated? How does the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system represent these orders? And what steps are involved in getting these orders to the production floor? For manufacturers, the last thing they want is any operational bottleneck in order processing and engineering before the parts reach the main cutting stage.

Operating Costs
These costs include common facility costs, equipment maintenance costs, personnel costs, and external service costs. Is it feasible to vertically integrate powder coating or other previously outsourced processes in-house?

Some less common factors also need to be considered, such as electricity consumption. Shops located in areas with high electricity prices may adopt different equipment investment strategies, especially regarding auxiliary gases. In low-energy areas, nitrogen generation systems may be very cost-effective, but as electricity prices per kilowatt-hour rise, bulk purchases of nitrogen become more attractive.

A Flexible Future

After analyzing the overall picture—including your customers, resources, capabilities, and operating costs—you can determine which laser system is best suited for your operations. This includes not only power levels but also the degree of automation.