The two fiber lasers were integrated into a laser cutting center that can be expanded to up to four lasers. The center is located in an area where the company was inefficiently storing steel. With the automated system, Schuette expects to almost double its output. With two lasers, the cutting center's footprint measures 12.2m by 30.5m, or 40,000 square meters, and can be expanded to 12.2m by 70m, or 80,000 square meters, if four lasers are installed. The manufacturer's main production area is 120,000 square feet and Schuette's Central Wisconsin Finishing Division has a 100,000-square-foot facility for e-coating (a wet paint process), powder coating, parts washing, shot blasting, bake-off and shipping.
In operation, LaserFLEX Automation picks up the material provided by the storage system, transports the individual sheet and places it on the laser table. After the material has been cut, an unloading unit of the LaserFLEX picks up the cut sheet from the laser table and transfers it to a LoopFLEX conveyor belt. Thanks to this labor saving, two people can operate the 6 kW and 15 kW fiber lasers without much difficulty. As a result of the increased automation, Schuette has transferred five employees from the laser cutting area to other areas of production.