CNC West Dec jan 2019

46 www.CNC-West.com CNC WEST December 2018/January 2019 Fagor Automation and Lantek have an- nounced the signing of a technological collaboration agreement allowing Lantek Inside software to be inte- grated into the Fagor CNC platforms for high perfor- mance fiber laser cutting machines. This partnership will allow users performance improvements in ma- chine tool agility, efficiency and productivity due to the operator now having greater control in managing the programs and machining directly from the manu- facturing floor. The partnership comes at a time when fiber laser cutting technology is experiencing rapid growth, thus opening up new and attractive business opportu- nities. “These machines offer a series of interesting advantages over CO2 laser machines, which include: more affordable maintenance, lower energy consump- tion, high cutting speeds combined with improved part finish,” said a company spokesperson. “Fagor Automation has extensive experience in machine tools, spanning more than 35 years in the sector,” continued the spokesperson. “Several years ago, Fagor Automation began to focus R&D resources on the laser market, in which we have developed a complete solution for machines that use laser technology, enabling Fagor Automation to become a leader in the sector, more specifically in the segment of medium to high power machines (be- tween 2 and 12 kW). This integration is in addition to the latest developments for laser cutting that Fagor Automation has launched within the past 1-2 years.” “This technological collaboration with Lan- tek allows Fagor Automation to make a technological leap in its laser CNCs, making laser cutting machines easier to use,” explained Iñaki Antoñanzas, head of laser technology at Fagor Automation. Francisco Per- ez, director of Lantek’s Machine Tool Manufacturers Channel, added, “Through this agreement, Lantek Laser CNC Platform - Better Productivity with Higher Efficiency has taken another step as a global company creating solutions that improve the competitiveness of the main players in the metal industry.” Lantek Inside is a solution that, although it has been a part of Lantek’s portfolio for some time now, has been optimized by the company’s R&D team to incorporate new and improved features. Highlights include the possibility of editing machining, generat- ing new machining tasks and adding or removing parts directly from the manufacturing floor itself, giving the final operator greater control. This allows for greater versatility when it comes to maximizing the use of ma- terial and program cycle execution times and reducing response time. As well as reducing the creation of unneces- sary documentation due to the machining information residing in the CNC itself, operators have at their dis- posal the information of the work to be done instantly based upon need, thus with a direct connection between the programming office and the manufacturing floor CNC and software. This optimizes solutions for normal production needs, such as reworking or repairing parts, or reusing any previously generated scrap without the need for intermediate procedures and sheet metal align- ment and measurement, thus reducing scrap material and set-up time. “Providing the best user experience with ad- vanced solutions that meet and exceed the present and future needs that the fiber laser machine manufacturers may require, is priority one of both Fagor Automation and Lantek,” said the spokesperson. “In this sense, this agreement will allow both the manufacturers of cut- ting machines and end users to benefit from greater machine-software integration, as well as a much more user friendly and functional man-machine interface,” said Pérez.