Flowing into new business

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END USER: Designers Metalcraft, (508) 378-0404, www.designersmetalcraft.com. CHALLENGE: Generate additional business from existing customers and prospects. SOLUTION: A waterjet cutting machine. SOLUTION PROVIDER: Flow International Corp., (800) 446-FLOW, www.flowwaterjet.com.

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A shop can build a business by having a specialized capability, but augmenting that specialty with an additional value-added offering is often needed to grow.

Founded more than a half century ago, Designers Metalcraft established its reputation as a job shop that laser cuts sheet metal, offering prototyping and production of component parts to complete assemblies.

“We specialize in laser cutting services for thin-gauge steel, stainless steel and aluminum,” said Glenn Mueller, sales representative for the East Bridgewater, Mass., company. “But we were limited in our offerings and, to remain competitive, we started looking for ways to better serve our customers and gain new ones.”

Designers Metalcraft was aware that many customers were sending work to shops for abrasive waterjet cutting. “The waterjet seemed like an ideal way to expand our capabilities for our current customers and to address the needs of new markets we hadn’t been able to reach,” Mueller said.

President Mark Svizzero, General Manager Rob Anthony and their team began collecting information about waterjets on their own and at trade shows. They narrowed their focus to three waterjet machine builders. After extensive evaluation, including visits to the manufacturers’ facilities, the parts manufacturer purchased a 6.5 '×13 ' machine from Flow International Corp., Kent, Wash.

While researching waterjets, Svizzero, Anthony and their team learned that higher pressure cuts faster—similar to higher wattage lasers—and consumes less abrasive. As a result, Designers Metalcraft specified the optional HyperJet pump instead of the standard 60,000-psi pump. The 94,000-psi-rated pump cuts up to 50 percent faster and generates a smaller diameter jet that consumes 30 to 50 percent less garnet than a conventional waterjet, according to Flow. 

Courtesy of Flow

A waterjet machine from Flow International enabled Designers Metalcraft to gain more business from existing customers and enter new markets by machining materials it couldn’t cut before with its lasers. It can also cut thicker materials, such as a 5 "-thick steel part (inset).

However, speed alone without accuracy can mean lower quality parts. Therefore, the parts manufacturer also specified the Dynamic Waterjet cutting head with active tolerance control. Flow reports that the Dynamic technology uses an advanced motion system, incorporating mathematical cutting models that allow the head to tilt in any direction to provide accurate cutting by eliminating the inside corner washout and minimizing the taper that are common when waterjetting. Taper is less than 1° when cutting in a straight line, Anthony noted. 

Anthony added that some customers assume post-waterjet machining operations are needed to achieve the required accuracy. One customer, for example, sent a ½ "-thick aluminum sheet to have Designers Metalcraft cut a blank for machining elsewhere. “When we got the file, we saw we could cut all the features they had intended to machine afterwards because of our waterjet’s accuracy,” Anthony said (the machine achieves ±0.003 " tolerances). “Waterjet cut parts can come right off the table and get painted.”

The company’s lasers can provide a tighter tolerance of ±0.001 " but the waterjet will sometimes machine workpieces intended for laser cutting when the lasers are busy. Although the lasers can cut up to ½ "-thick steel, setup is time consuming, so the waterjet handles anything ½ " and thicker because setup involves just placing the workpiece on the table, Anthony noted. “Anything ¼ " and over for aluminum and stainless will automatically go on the jet,” he added. “I’ve done 5 "-thick material.” The waterjet machine can cut materials from 1⁄16 " to 8 " thick, according to Flow.

Some metals, such as copper and brass, are processed exclusively on the waterjet because they reflect the laser beam and can damage a laser’s resonator or lens.

Designers Metalcraft’s waterjet also enables the shop to cut other nonmetal materials it previously couldn’t, including stone, composites, ceramics, glass, plastics, rubber and foam. When cutting the latter two, as well as some soft plastics, the company turns off the abrasive. For waterjetting various plastics, composites, polymers and some types of glass, the shop uses the machine’s UltraPierce technology in which a vacuum assist pulls garnet ahead of the water so cutting occurs immediately. Anthony explained that without UltraPierce, water would hit the surface before any garnet does and cause those materials to crack rather than be cut.

Designers Metalcraft has only had the waterjet since November, so it’s not operating round-the-clock 5 days a week like the lasers. “It’s running a shift a day,” Anthony said, “which is good considering we’re just getting our feet wet.”