March 5--General Profiling (Johannesburg, South Africa) has ordered its sixth laser cutting system. The new laser is due to be commissioned in May and will be larger than the one it replaces, therefore enabling the cutting of larger plates and thicker material with faster cycle times.
Training of staff on the new machine will take place on the company's premises during and after installation is complete.
The system was bought to replace a ten-year-old laser, which was the company's first laser. The new system also comes soon after the commissioning of a fifth laser system, which took place in October 2006.
The fifth machine was a 6kW laser that enables the company to cut up to 25 mm in carbon steels, 25 mm in stainless steels, and 16 mm in aluminum.
"The fifth laser certainly improved our service offering and levels, but demand soon caught up with us, and this is why we are back to square one, and need to upgrade our old faithful laser machine," explains General Profiling MD Gavin Poplak.
The company has been involved in the laser cutting industry for the past ten years. Before then, the company had only offered flame cutting and guillotining, but now claims to be the only company in South Africa offering the range of services it does. These include laser, waterjet, high-definition plasma, plasma, flame and guillotine cutting as well as rolling and CNC bending.
"We have simply not been able to keep up with demand over the past twelve months," comments Poplak.
"We offer a great product mix but now we have to offer the products to the market as fast as possible. "The market is becoming increasingly deadline driven, and we hardly ever get orders where there is not an 'urgent' request attached," he adds.
