Supplying the Australian Defence Industry
Investing in state-of-the-art laser cutting capability that’s at the forefront of Industry 4.0 catapulted Glyde Metal Industries into the skies.
We recently invited our CDIC Advisor Stephen Harvey to inspect and assess our new capability and quickly found there were new opportunities in the defence supply chain that could take advantage of this state-of-the-art technology.
One feature stood out – we learned our new 10kW Fiber Laser Cutting machine provided new and broader capability that could meet the exacting demands of defence aviation.
But how did we get here?
Increasing our Defence Capability– the backstory
At Glyde Metal Industries we have on our production floor a high-end CO2 powered steel laser cutter that was barely six years old, cut accurately and performed well – we thought this machine was more than up to the job.
Then in 2018, we attended an exhibition of the newest Steel Laser Cutter available, an Optic Fiber-powered machine, and were immediately impressed – highly accurate and high speed. It seemed there was nothing a Fiber Laser couldn’t do.
(For more information on industrial lasers see, https://www.engineering.com/AdvancedManufacturing/ArticleID/16808/An-Engineers-Guide-to-Laser-Cutting.aspx )
By Christmas Eve, we had ordered a Fiber Laser from Europe –
a 10-kilowatt (10kW) Prima Power model, amongst the most powerful available.
The added bonus for us (and the environment) is with Fiber using much less power compared to a CO2–powered laser, the new system data showed our Fiber to be 89% more efficient when doing the same job
– a simply amazing saving that saw us qualify for a subsidy from
the Clean Energy Finance Corporation.
Fiber Laser Cutting Superiority
Shipping containers started arriving with parts and components from Italy in 2019, and the Prima Power 10kW Fiber Laser was born. Following acceptance testing we commenced the training phase in the second half of the year to extract the optimum from this state-of-the-art technology.
Capability is King
By enhancing its capability, Glyde Metal can provide precise high-speed Fiber Laser Cutting to the Australian Defence Industry and support the Sovereign Industrial Capability Priorities. The commissioning of this new capability has the ability to improve manufacturing lead times and is now being used in the Defence Supply Chain for Land 121, Phase 3B and other projects.
This new cutting capability was the impetus behind our Project Primo Power, which we initiated to provide precision, high-speed and improved lead times – Glyde’s triple threat, if you will.
The Fourth Industrial Revolution is here
As industries worldwide grapple with the effects, opportunities and possibilities that Industry 4.0 is presenting, at Glyde Metal we’re embracing these incredible changes which are happening now in overseas markets, particularly Europe.
We still have our CO2 steel laser cutter but don’t have much use for it anymore – Fiber Laser Cutting technology is moving at light speed into 2020 and beyond. We’re on board – are you?