Minimum effort for maximum impact

Challenges

Since its foundation in 2000, the Lasercor job shop has developed from a laser cutting and bending specialist to an all-rounder in sheet metal processing. The company has therefore built up an ultra-modern stock of machinery in recent years. Five TRUMPF laser systems and five TRUMPF bending machines are in operation in Lasercor's production. It had become evident that without updating their processes, it would not be possible in the long term to efficiently exploit the potential of fast systems. Lasercor therefore wanted to work intensively on optimising their processes throughout the company.

Solutions

Lasercor Managing Directors Manuel and Julian Jiménez opted for five days of TRUMPF Smart Factory consulting. A critical perspective from outside the company was particularly important to them. "And as the consultancy revealed, our first steps towards the Smart Factory did not actually require any major investment. Minor but highly effective additions to the existing system, a little process optimisation here and there, and more efficient use of existing software were the key factors that helped us make significant progress", says Jiménez.

Implementation

For all five bending stations, only one monitor had been available for the TruTops Fab production control software, which was then being shared by all employees. TRUMPF proposed that each of the bending machines be equipped with its own FAB monitor. This measure allowed operators to process orders directly at the machine with no paper nor waiting times. Operators can now also identify and trigger label printing for each job from TruTops Fab and apply the labels directly to the cut parts, thereby saving time. Previously these had been printed in the engineering office. Minor optimisation of the shop floor management system has also proven to be effective. At Lasercor, machine data is being recorded and analysed using TruTops Monitor. The key figures are then always on display to give transparency at all times. This has optimised planning and enabled rapid intervention in the event of a fault.

Forecast

Lasercor has recently expanded its material warehouse by 4,500 square metres and invested in additional machines. Jiménez: "Our goal is fully automated production. This can't be done overnight. A family-run business has the advantage of quickly introducing innovations. With the measures implemented so far, we have been able to increase the capacity utilisation of our laser cutting systems and bending machines by a further 15 percent. This has inspired us to do more".