A record number of visitors attended Bystronic UK’s latest open house, held at its Coventry showroom concurrently with the MACH 2018 machine tool show at the NEC (9th to 12th April). The theme of the open house was MACH SPEED, which involved visitors being asked to estimate the time required to manufacture a component for an off-road vehicle.
A 3D model was unfolded of a large back plate produced from 4 mm mild steel for a Thwaites three-tonne dumper truck. In less than one minute, a laser cutting program was exported to a fibre laser machine with the correct blank allowance and the required press brake bending program was created.
A presentation in progress at Bystronic UK’s April open house. The Thwaites three-tonne dumper truck may be seen in the background.
The part was then profile-cut on a Bystronic 10kW ByStar Fiber four times faster than on a conventional 6kW CO2 laser machine. It was subsequently bent on one of the company’s latest press brakes, an Xpert 150, without program adjustment and with a full tool setup included. Most people overestimated the total production time due to the very high throughput of which these machines are capable. The person with the closest estimate each day received a Fitbit watch as a prize.
David Larcombe, Bystronic UK’s managing director commented, “During the event we sold a number of machines, notably a 10 kW 4020 fibre laser and two Xpert press brakes. We believe the theme was not only interesting to visitors but also an eye-opener in terms of the productivity benefits that can be achieved with modern machine tools.
“UK manufacturing continues to be buoyant, as witnessed by the large number of visitors to our April event. There appears to be an appetite, especially among subcontractors, to increase competitiveness by investing in Bystronic’s latest technical innovations.”
