One of the UK's leading professional metal component manufacturers has received a new laser cutting machine, which it hopes will help achieve new sales of up to £1 million.
HV Wooding has 90 employees at its manufacturing plant in Hythe and has invested more than £500,000 in the installation of Trumpf TruLaser 3030 because it wants to take advantage of important "electrification" opportunities.
The company’s laser production capacity has doubled, and the machine will immediately be used to produce thin-gauge laminates and busbars for electric cars, trucks, buses and commercial vehicles, not to mention providing customers with cutting thicknesses of less than 0.5 mm The ability and has a tolerance better than 50 microns.
The Trumpf 3030 installed last month is an industry-leading machine with a laser power of 3kW, a synchronous shaft speed of 170M/min, a shaft acceleration of 14m/s2 and a fast pallet change time of only 18.5 seconds.
The Trumpf TruLaser 3030 in operation. Image courtesy of HV Wooding.
“Our existing lasers work 24 hours a day, so we need an additional option to help us meet current needs and give us the ability to target new opportunities,” explains Paul Allen, Sales Director of HV Wooding.
"Customers are changing the design of the rotor and stator to improve performance. This investment provides us with an ideal solution that can provide rapid turnaround prototypes without the cost of wire cutting."
He continued: “The maximum sheet thickness we can cut on the new machine is 20 mm (mild steel), 15 mm (stainless steel/aluminum) and 6 mm (copper and brass).
"This enhances our existing equipment, allowing us to cut copper and brass up to 8 mm. We have placed orders for more than 200,000 pounds, and there may be an additional 800,000 pounds between now and the end of 2022."
Since the lifting of the blockade in the United Kingdom, HV Wooding has performed strongly, with its turnover increasing by 600,000 pounds.
The company also provides wire corrosion and printing services, creating 16 new jobs to help cope with growing demand, and hopes to take advantage of the growing demand for local sourcing from customers in the automotive, aerospace, and power generation industries.
It is also part of the Faraday Battery Challenge, working with the Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Center and the University of Sheffield to develop improved insulation solutions to improve the quality of the bus bars it produces.
With the support of Innovate UK, the project focuses on research and development of alternative coating methods to improve the performance and integrity of key components that transfer high current power between different parts of the electrical system.
We have invested and will continue to invest in equipment to help us become a leader in this field. In addition to new lasers, we have also added a new Bruderer BSTA 25H press, Trimos altimeter and InspectVision inspection system," Paul added.
"These investments, together with our personal development plan for all employees, are the key to our strategic plan to maintain a world-leading position in the field of metal component subcontracting manufacturing."