Fiber laser technology is a better choice
Since the first introduction of CO2 laser cutting in the 1980s, fiber laser cutting has been one of the most 'disruptive' technologies in the metal processing market. Fiber laser technology is considered a 'revolutionary' change because it has almost changed the entire status quo of sheet metal manufacturing.
The cutting speed of the high-power fiber laser is 5 times faster than the traditional CO2 laser, and the operating cost is reduced by half. Fiber lasers do not require any warm-up time, while for CO2 lasers, it usually takes about 10 minutes to start each time. Fiber lasers do not need to maintain the optical path, such as cleaning mirrors or lenses, checking bellows and aligning the beam. For carbon dioxide lasers, this may consume another 4 to 5 hours per week. The fiber laser has a completely sealed fiber bundle path from the power supply to the fiber transmission of the cutting head. The beam will not be contaminated by the beam path like a CO2 laser. Since the integrity of the fiber bundle remains the same every day, so does the cutting parameters, which require much less adjustment than CO2 lasers. What will all this saved time become? Higher productivity and greater machine throughput! Compared with CO2, the cutting speed of fiber laser is five times faster, the parts produced per unit time are three to four times, and the operating cost is 50% lower than CO2, which means that it will bring more production capacity on the basis of creating more production capacity. Great opportunity. All processes need to be carefully planned and managed to effectively take advantage of the speed advantages brought by high-power fiber lasers. Since the throughput is increased by three to four times while the operating cost is half of the CO2 laser, the economic benefits can change the rules of the game. Comes with lower parts costs, higher potential profit margins and shorter return on investment time. For manufacturers using CO2 laser cutting systems, the switch to fiber optic technology represents a huge window of opportunity, which cannot be ignored.