Copyright 1985 The Financial Times Limited
Financial Times (London,England)

June 7, 1985, Friday

SECTION: SECTION I; Technology; Pg. 6

LENGTH: 311 words

HEADLINE: GEC's laser cutting machine takes a slice out of toolmaking costs

BYLINE: BY NICK GARNETT

BODY:
A £420,000 LASER cutting machine developed for GEC Turbine Generators is reducing toolmaking costs, improving design flexibility and speeding up manufacturing.

The machine is made by Halifax toolmaker William Asquith and Ferranti Professional Components of Dundee which provided the laser system. It is now being offered with a quoted build time of nine months.

The builders claim the laser cutter is the most accurate machine of its type. It incorporates a travelling gantry, using technology involved in Asquith's CNC machining centres.

It can cut stainless steel plate up to 10 mm thick. GEC's machine has a separate manipulator with a vertical face plate for producing cylindrical or conical cuts.

Turbine generator builders suffering from worldwide manufacturing over-capacity in a fiercely competitive market are all striving to reduce build times.

As well as lowering costs, faster build times gives manufacturers greater flexibility to make last-minute design changes while keeping within contract delivery times.

The normal manufacturing cycle for low pressure turbine casings made by GEC in Manchester for example, is 36 months and the company is striving to bring it down to 26.

Mr Cyril Hill, head of manufacturing technology in Manchester, says the Ferranti-Asquith machine helps by doing away with much of the division's toolmaking requirements.

Much of the cutting work to be done by the laser is currently carried out by punching. It can take a year from the start of designing a major new component to producing new punches and dies ready for production to begin. But GEC believes this period can be cut to eight months using the laser cutter.

GEC Turbines is operating at about 60 per cent of capacity, making 150 fixed blade assemblies a year. This is about half the production capacity of the later machine.