The Prima Power Open House in Finland welcomed manufacturers from the UK to see the launch of the new SGe5 Shear Genius® punching and shearing cell, for sheet sizes up to 2,500 mm x 1,250 mm. This new machine incorporates the Prima Power servo-electric technology throughout, meaning it is fast but has a low energy consumption.

The benefits of the right angle shear are that micro jointing and sheet skeletons are eliminated, and edge quality is greatly improved with no burrs. Not only does this save on processing time, reducing it by around 60%, but it can also save 10-15% in material usage. Paul King, managing director at CSM Ltd in Chorley has been a Prima Power customer for several years. “We went to the Open House to see the Platino® fibre laser, but once we saw the new SGe5 Shear Genius® it impressed us so much that we will be examining how we can improve our processes using the technology.”

The SGe5 has been designed to work with sheet sizes up to 2500mm x 1250mm and its compact format simplifies installation into more confined spaces, reducing the need for factory alterations to meet the needs of the machine. This makes investment in the technology affordable and profitable and 40% faster to implement.

The latest LST loading and stacking robot is now available on the Prima Power ZAPHIRO® 4 and 5 kW CO2 laser. Previously it was only available on the PLATINO® Fiber laser cutting machine. The LST picks parts directly from the cutting head one by one and stacks them on tables, storage boxes or wagons, lifting parts up to 200 kg. The RALC (robot assisted last cut) option takes the handling a stage further by holding the part as it is separated from the sheet, making it possible to manipulate and stack small and intricate parts. The system eliminates micro jointing and the hand picking of parts from the sheet.

For Marco Carlotti, managing director of Stevens and Carlotti in Sandwich, productivity improvement through automation was the main driver for his visit to the Open House. “We have the CO2 laser and we wanted to see the new LST handling, and see how it could be used on our existing machine to optimize efficiency. Overall the event was very informative and interesting.”

Paul Downs, UK sales manager says, “The comments from the UK customers show that they appreciate the overall solution we can offer, and that by integrating our powerful range of machines and automation systems we can make very significant productivity improvements to their businesses.”