Controlling the process

Gaetano Lo Guzzo, Director Laser Business Europe, Yamazaki Mazak, took ISMR through the company’s latest innovations, as well as his outlook on laser markets, AI developments and sustainability approaches.

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Yamazaki Mazak Corporation was founded in 1919 in Nagoya, Japan. It now has over 8300 employees worldwide. The company started production of laser processing machines in the 1980s. With 15 Technology Centres around Europe and its European Laser Headquarters in Milan (Italy), its focus is on offering solutions to the major challenges that face machine-tool users. These include productivity improvements through to skills shortages; energy prices; wage inflation; increased competition and a focus on the environment.

At this October’s EuroBLECH sheet metal trade exhibition in Hanover, visitors witnessed the European debut of Mazak’s entry-level fibre laser processing machine, the OPTIPLEX 3015 Ez. The 6kW machine on display at EuroBLECH was exhibited as part of a fully integrated cell, which took the workpiece from raw material through to the finished parts.

A 20kW variant of Mazak’s OPTIPLEX 3015 NEO was also on its stand at EuroBLECH, passing laser-cut aluminium parts to Mazak’s Friction Stir Welding (FSW-460V) machine. New control and CAD/CAM programming features from Mazak were also showcased on its stand.

Gaetano Lo Guzzo, Director Laser Business Europe, Yamazaki Mazak, took ISMR through the company’s latest innovations, as well as his outlook on laser markets, the advent of artificial intelligence (AI) and sustainability approaches.

European debut of OPTIPLEX 3015 Ez

Yamazaki Mazak (Mazak) announced the European debut of the OPTIPLEX 3015 Ez, its latest laser processing machine, at EuroBLECH 2024 from 22-25 October 2024 in Hanover, Germany. The entry-level model is designed to at “an affordable price”. The 6kW machine on display at EuroBLECH was exhibited as part of a fully integrated cell, which took the workpiece from raw material through to the finished parts.

In addition to the OPTIPLEX Ez, equipped with a three-pallet changer to optimise cycle time, the cell featured a Mazak CST 3015 storage automation system featuring eight shelves (six for loading raw materials and two for unloading remnant sheets). It also included a Mazak SMART MANUFACTURING CELL, a robotised sorting system to separate the finished parts and place the parts on a pallet ready for the next process.

Each component in the cell was coordinated centrally by new Smooth Line Controller software. Built into the CNC, the Smooth Line Controller app allows the entire process to be integrated, from order receipt and program arrival from the CAD/CAM office through to material arrival, cutting, sorting and finished part shipment. The system, which can be used to schedule production, is also able to send critical production data back into the ERP system.

To read the rest of this article in the November issue of ISMR, please see https://joom.ag/kz7d/p68