British Steel Lackenby Works manufactures large, steel H-sections for the construction industry and has helped transform the world’s skyline by providing steel for many iconic buildings including The Shard in London and the new World Trade Center in New York.
Graham Bell, Project Engineer (Electrical and Automation) at British Steel Lackenby Works said:
For our production process, it is essential that we are able to accurately control the cutting of the sections at our hot saws. This requires accurate measurement of both the speed and length, which can prove difficult given that the sections are approximately 800°C, glowing red and traveling up to 4m/sec. We contacted Control Metrix as they are probably the most well-known company for this type of specialist equipment and we subsequently implemented several LaserSpeed devices for controlling the cutting of the sections at our hot saws.
“Based on the excellent results from these earlier installations at the hot saws, we later decided to also invest in an Auto-Tracker system to measure the runout length of the beams at the exit of the hot mill traveling up to 8m/sec. This communicates the length of the primary beams to our optimisation system, which then works out how many customer lengths can be cut from that specific primary beam length. The system can then choose the customer order, which is best suited to the specific primary beam length, therefore reducing waste and optimising yield.
We have been very impressed with the team as they clearly have a lot of experience in this area and they have helped us to make an extremely successful installation. I would definitely use Control Metrix again and would have no hesitation in recommending them.”
If you would like to find out how the implementation of a LaserSpeed could improve your manufacturing processes, please visit our website or contact our product specialist.
