Product category:
CNC laser cutting and profiling machines
News Release from: LVD (UK) | Subject: 3kW Axel 3015 flying optics CNC laser profiling
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 08 October 2002
Store fittings profiled quickly and
flexibly
Applying a 3kW flying optics CNC laser to profile store fitting components has brought extra flexibility and eliminated hard tooling.
You see them here, you see them there! Next time you enter a superstore or a leading high street or business park retail outlet, it is probably Alan Nuttall's Midlands operation that has supplied the cabinets, shelving, racking, creative display systems and point of sale cabinets which have been produced using LVD (UK) supplied sheet metal equipment With the British public spending millions of pounds each day on food, clothing and other consumable goods, shops and supermarkets punch it out toe to toe to win increased market share and hence profitability
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 25 Jun 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
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To maintain customer interest today, the design of store fitments must change continually which means the displays manufactured by Alan Nuttall, are totally different in concept and the way they are made from the ones it produced in 1966, when it was first established.
Still a privately owned company, Alan Nuttall has grown to become a GBP 50 million turnover business and one of the major influences within the British store fitting industry.
It has four manufacturing locations in the Midlands, with over 800,000ft2 of manufacturing space.
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Laser profiling machine gets more productive
Expanding the advantages of its modular concept design, two new versions of the LVD Axel 'flying optics' laser profiling machine are now available with fully integrated shuttle tables
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Precision sub-contractor's CNC laser cutting system purchase allows it cut 2500 by 1250mm mild steel sheet up 16mm thick, SS up to 6mm and aluminium up to 5mm in thickness.
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Two LVD laser profiling machines, an LVD Shape punch press and two LVD multi-axis press brakes are used at Park Sheet Metal of Coventry on work for the new Lea Francis 20/230 sports roadster
The company now offers a full range of services from creative design and signage to the complete project management of store fittings.
Indeed, while almost 95 per cent of sales are from supermarkets and retail chains, in the last 12 months the business has expanded into the fitting out of petrol station forecourts which increases the demand on production expertise and capability.
Based in Dudley, West Midlands and employing some 450 people Alan Nuttall's Store Fitting Division is in the volume shelving business and has the skills to produce a complete range of complex retail solutions.
In-house design teams continually produce new concepts for department stores, fashion outlets, sports retailers, electrical superstores and so on, that quite often stretch the boundaries of the production facilities.
But, by always investing in the latest machine tools and production technology, it has always been able to support the dreams and aspirations of the designers.
As a prime example in 2001, the Store Fitting Division invested over 1 million (pounds sterling) in new production equipment, which included a 3kW Axel 3015 flying optics CNC laser profiling machine supplied by LVD (UK) of Marlow.
Production manager, Bob Williams explains: "Our demands on the laser are two-fold.
First, we have to produce a high volume of semi-standard shelving brackets and other profiled components however, because our design teams are always after innovative product concepts, we are also called upon to produce conceptual parts.
As we all know from a production engineer's view - this can be a nightmare.
But, with the Axel laser we can provide an answer to most of these demands." He cites one of the major advantages of the installation is that the laser does not require hard tooling, nor the associated costs and production delays that follow.
"We can make a prototype very quickly by taking the concept program, which may require only a little bit of tweaking, and it is only a matter of looking at available capacity before pushing the green button and away you go to create the designers conceptual new ideas in the metal." This high degree of production flexibility has also filtered out to the engineers who face the customer during the installation.
Within the retail store fitting industry it is a common problem for the final fit to require last minute alterations.
Explains Bob Williams: "We often go into a store that has been 95 per cent laid out with our display equipment but with the final 5 per cent, there is often that odd little corner which still begs a solution.
Because the majority of the installation is complete, it becomes a bespoke unit and a priority item for which the LVD Axel laser comes into its own.
All we need to do to save the day is input the relevant information and within a fairly short time the parts are finished." While bracket designs tend to be purpose designed to the customers insta llation, most still tend to require very small changes which required dedicated tools and extensive setting up or fitting times.
It was this problem that flagged up an area where costs were escalating and led Nuttall's to conduct a cost analysis of hard tooling compared to the flexibility that could be achieved through laser profiling.
And out of the figures, the Axel was able to demonstrate a saving of 50 per cent.
The Axel laser is the latest in a long line of machines supplied to Alan Nuttall by LVD (UK), but is regarded as one of the most automated and efficient using its 'Laser Eye' optical referencing system for automatic non-contact datuming of the sheet.
The machine can be automatically loaded from any of the three different 3000 x 1500mm 6 tonne pallets.
The automatic unload system delivers the laser cut nested sheets on to a controlled height scissor table which can be rolled out and unloaded at any time including during the cutting cycle.
Explains Bob Williams: "We try to take advantage of the automation and run the Axel around the clock on at least a five day week, extensively over the weekend and quite regularly on a 24/7 basis.
The main attention required by the operator involves removing the cut components from the skeleton of the sheet which are micro-tagged for easier removal from the machine." The Axel fits into the company's move into cellular manufacturing and team working.
It is programmed off-line by the team leader from drawings provided by the design office which are loaded into a nesting software package which provides improved material utilisation.
The software then post-processes the program and systematically determines the laser path which has enabled between a five and 10 per cent additional improvement to be made in productivity at the machine.
The 3kW (carbon dioxide) fast-flow laser has the capability to cut steel up to 20mm thick to an accuracy of + 0.05mm at rapid traverse speeds up to 170m/min.
The company mainly processes 2mm to 6mm thick 'Laser Sure' quality steel.
'Laser Sure' is a high quality material developed to give a cleaner edge when laser cutting, with guaranteed levels of flatness.
Bob Williams explains: "Although the Axel can accommodate material stock which is not flat with its automatic capacitive height sensing built into the cutting head, any undulations cause problems with our downstream processes." As Bob Williams concludes: "The level of flexibility the Axel flying optics laser has given us means we can also adapt to changing markets.
So for instance, should stores or retail outlets want to change to digital displays or fully automated shelving, we have the design and production capability to respond very quickly," he says.
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