Improving manufacturing processes with consistent quality

Both Steel Service Center MCB and their customer, Blozo - a supplier of semi-finished products - tell us about the added value of Ympres Laser, a type of hot-rolled steel specifically developed to optimise the laser cutting process. "We would never use anything else now."

Disruptions in the cutting and bending process due to problems in the sheet material can seriously delay the workflow in a supplier's production process, particularly in a 24/7 operation.The heterogeneous composition of standard hot-rolled steel makes it necessary for the parameters of laser cutting machines to be adjusted on a regular basis. In addition, the material has a rolling direction that needs to be taken into account to avoid deviations and crack formation during bending. Dutch company Blozo Metaalwarenfabriek BV in Vlaardingen, used to see a significant proportion of its output in the production flow get wasted as a result of these problems. Since Blozo switched to Ympress Laser for the entire range of thicknesses of hot-rolled steel, those problems are a thing of the past and the quality supplied to the end customer now remains consistent.

"The quality of standard hot-rolled steel (ST37) can vary greatly between different suppliers, even for plates produced within the same batch," says director and owner Maurice Blonk of the family business Blozo. "This regularly resulted in a rough cutting image and excessive spatter formation during piercing, with spatters getting stuck to the cutting head. This means an operator needs to intervene, which causes enormous disruption to the cutting process, particularly during unmanned hours. Furthermore, the fact that you need to take the rolling direction of standard hot-rolled steel into account requires quite some thought when nesting the plates, even with care rejects will remain a regular occurrence."

Blozo, which supplies steel and aluminium semi-finished products to companies from a diverse range of sectors, first learned about Ympress Laser four years ago, on the recommendation of MCB. Blozo tested 4mm Ympress Laser and achieved a consistent, tight cutting image, without any need to adjust the cutting parameters. Maurice Blonk: "Due to its homogeneous composition, Ympress Laser has the advantage that you no longer need to take the rolling direction of the plate material into account. Initially, we started to use Ympress Laser selectively together with standard hot-rolled steel from other suppliers. However, it was impractical to keep the two different qualities constantly separated. Eventually, it turned out that the lower purchase price of standard material did not make up for the loss caused by disruptions in the production process. For that reason, we switched over completely to Ympress Laser last year."

Blozo processes between 150 and 200 tons of Ympress Laser a year in thicknesses ranging from 3 to 20mm.