This news article was originally written in Spanish. It has been automatically translated for your convenience. Reasonable efforts have been made to provide an accurate translation, however, no automated translation is perfect nor is it intended to replace a human translator. The original article in Spanish can be viewed at El corte por láser y la fibra óptica cumplen con las demandas del corte de chapa más exigente

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Mafesa Will incorporate a laser fibre around the middle of year

The cut by laser and the optical fibre fulfil with the demands of the cut of sheet more demanding

Esther Güell06/02/2014

With more than 50 years to his backs Mafesa has converted is specialist in the work of ironinging and steel, from the production of ferralla —or steel of reinforcement— until the cut by laser. At present it has 8 centres that allow him give coverage, with different services, to a wide geographic zone of Catalonia and even south of France, with a total of more than 50.000 square metres of warehouses and plants of production. His productive capacity allows them work profiles, tubes, sheet, calibrated, corrugados, meshes, etc. Inside the group, Mafesa Laser was cream to expand the service of plasma and oxicorte, and give coverage to a greater amplitude of sectors customer.

Nowadays Mafesa Laser adds 10 employees delivered between workshop and technical office, with two machines of cut by laser purchased at a rate of one by polish from his starts. But his restless spirit and his particular vision of work will carry them, around the middle of year, to purchase —yes, purchase, that commercial action so little given lately— a new machine of cut by optical fibre, at the same time that they move to some wider and modern installations. This change looks for repercutir positively in his customers, expanding his portafolio of products.

Geographically Mafesa situates in the central regions of Catalonia, with locations in Vic, Canovelles and The Seu d'Urgell (warehouses) Palafolls and Figueres (warehouse and production of ferralla), Seva (ferralla), Vic and Gurb (oxicorte and cutting by laser respectively).

Precisely of the installations of Gurb, that visit, moved to Seva, from where will expand his offer.

At present Mafesa has two machines of high technology for cut by laser. In brief will incorporate a team of optical fibre.

However the companies nowadays have to bet by the constant update to keep ‘alive' in a highly competitive market, and more when it treats of small companies that look for his space. Conscious of this, in Mafesa are closing the acquisition of the new machine of optical fibre that will allow them increase the speed of production. “The optical fibre allows to reduce the time of cut, in thin sheet, until 30%”, explains us Manel Solà, director of the Centre of Cut of Mafesa in Gurb.

On the other hand, also poses , although in a future, offer services of folded, threaded… “The customer wants a complete solution and this means to expand the portafolio of services and the machinery”.

The cut by laser allows to fulfil with the minimum tolerances demanded by the customer.

The current challenges do not reside only in the cut of diverse materials, the hardnesses and the complexity of the pieces, but also in the rapidity of delivery. “We are a small workshop and have to compete with the big lasers… And a strategy is (almost) never say that no”. Although be small sometimes can be an advantage regarding flexibility, agility and polivalencia, as it is the case of the own transport with that explains Mafesa. “They are details that the customer appreciates”, recognises Manel Solà.

Manel Solà, director of the centre of Mafesa Laser, in Gurb, admits that be a small workshop has inconvenient but also advantages.

The customer main type of Mafesa is the constructor of machinery. Mainly for the sector of the feeding, of industrial machinery and machine-tool, although they also give service to workshops of carpentry of aluminium, designers, rotulistas, sculptors —“a lot of sculptures of roundabouts have gone out of our workshop”—, working so much for final customers like subcontractors of main companies. And even they manufacture some spare parts of his own machines. Engineering and inventiveness to equal parts.

Mafesa Is prepared to cut all type of material although they notice a true increase of the demand to work copper and brass “and the machine of optical fibre will allow us work these materials with a lot of greater reliability”. In this sense, Manel Solà explains that “although it is possible to cut copper and brass by means of laser, this contributes too shine to the material and the results are not all the optimum that would owe”. In this case, it treats of a machine of high speed that will allow them, besides, assume works that up to now could not. “Have a lot of illusion. Although it is true that the work has gone down, have to say that it has not done it in the same proportion that in other sectors. The construction of machines has been stable, more or less, so we have been able to keep a very rhythm of work”.

Cultivate the loyalty to the customer is basic for companies like Mafesa and have service typical of packaging and transport —“sometimes of today for today” admits Solà— supposes a value added.

Question of measures

At present, the two machines laser installed in Mafesa allow them cut ironinging and stainless steel —and his alloys— between 0,8 and 25 mm, and until 15 mm in aluminium.

The cut by laser is perhaps one of the rather considered in the sector of the cut of metal, as it confirms Manel Solà: “it is not comparable with the oxicorte or the plasma that, although they also have a good cut, do not offer the same tolerances neither rapidity of work”. In spite of this, Solà has clear that no always is necessary to work with laser to obtain a good result, depending of the material, the use of the piece and the variable of the price: “there is determinate works in which it is not necessary to use the laser, avoiding besides put up the price of the product unnecessarily. We are to serve to the customer, no only to do business to his coast”.

Thus same, put special obstinacy in the control of quality of his products: “Any minimum detail can suppose an important problem for the customer so it is necessary to control of exhaustive way in the start, during and at the end of the process of cutting”.

But in Mafesa do not conform with doing “the of always” and Manel Solà affirms rotundo that, in the sector of the cut of sheet, “it is necessary to look for new materials. From management concern to expand our capacity of work to different materials that contribute value and new characteristic”, what again explains the acquisition of a machine of optical fibre.

In the technical office of Mafesa realizar from the calculations of projects until the control of production.

Mecanizador – Manufacturer, elbow to elbow

Mafesa Began 15 years ago to work the cut by laser. To the initial machine added him a new model to the cape of five years, “some machines of high productivity and optimum reliability”, admits Manel Solà. “They are machines that adapt to our demands and whose manufacturers realizar a ‘package to measure' so that they resolve our need of work”. Mafesa Values very especially also the constant work that the signatures realizar to improve and evolve his machines: “His departments of engineering know to listen to the customers so that continuously they present them improvements to optimise the production”.