A major complement; To keep up with customer demand, a manufacturer bought a waterjet to do work its laser couldn't.

Aloma Shim and Mfg. Co., Oakmont, PA, buys technology to keep pace with the needs of its customers. Between 40 to 60 percent of the business is dedicated to contract manufacturing for a wide range of industries that includes pulp and paper, aerospace, power generation, transportation, and off-road and construction equipment.

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The remainder of the business focuses on the manufacturing of custom and standard shims--alignment devices for foot-mounted, coupled-rotating equipment--for its large global network of distributors. In order to grow both sides of its business and remain flexible to its customers' demands, Aloma Shim turned to a waterjet system to complement the capabilities of its laser cutting machinery.

During the past 10 years, Aloma has quadrupled the number of shop floor employees while increasing sales 20-fold. Most of that increase has been in the past six years. The company achieved these results through investments in technology, like the waterjet, that increased worker productivity.

A Demand For Precision

Aloma's first laser system underscored how much it could benefit from a waterjet. Lasers, while accurate and efficient when set to the appropriate task, have limitations with types of material and thicknesses.

"In some applications, lasers create too much heat build-up," Robert Wolpink, Aloma's plant manager, said. "Depending on the material type and thickness, either the laser loses its cut or the part deforms."

At one end of the spectrum, when cutting thicker materials, edge quality can deteriorate, which leads to expensive and time-consuming secondary operations such as hand deburring. At the other end, when processing thin gauge material or sophisticated parts with thin cross-sections or a lot of holes, heat deformation can occur. In either case, a part's accuracy and tolerance can be affected.

The shop had three laser-cutting systems before it considered buying a waterjet. In total, the systems processed shims about 35 percent of the time with the rest of the machine's time devoted to contract manufacturing.

With the demand for cut parts growing, the decision to purchase a waterjet stemmed from Aloma's need for diversification. In an effort to expand its customer base, the company focused on the importance of being able to process a range of materials.

Capability Without Compromise

The shop purchased its first waterjet system when it received a customer request to process a 0.5" stainless steel disc with a 55" diameter. The disc had several tight-tolerance cut-outs. The customer found it difficult to find a company that could process the part according to specification.

A Byjet waterjet from Bystronic Inc., Hauppauge, NY, was Aloma's choice to meet the customer's requirements. The machine offered part accuracy, reduced setup time, and cutting condition control.

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With its rotary axis option, the Byjet provided Aloma with the opportunity for the diverse and challenging work of tube cutting. The Byjet could process tubes made of heavy-walled aluminum, brass, bronze, copper, and non-metals.

"You name it, now we cut it," Wolpink said. "We have a diverse customer base for the waterjet work because the system is so flexible."

Aloma processes a range of metal, plastic, rubber, and laminate up to 4" thick. The waterjet can cut reflective or non-reflective material, mild plate, or 0.001" thick stainless, and there are no heat-affected zones as there would be with the laser. The waterjet delivers quality edges and accuracy, according to Aloma.

The waterjet's drilling system and advanced pulsing technology lets Aloma process just about any job, even those where conventional waterjet technology would fail.

"The Byjet's on-table pilot hole drilling results in a more accurate hole location with significant cost savings." Fred D. Grove, Jr., vice president of sales and marketing, said.

The system also has the ability to incrementally raise or lower its water pressure through the CNC control. When combined with the ability to control the abrasive flow, it can pierce fragile materials such as glass, ceramic, stone, and phenolics. Once established, these various cutting conditions are stored as a single cutting parameter which significantly reduces setup time.

Serving Customers Better

Grove said that having both laser and waterjet cutting systems has set Aloma apart from the competition. Having multiple cutting technologies has helped Aloma grow its business.

"We do what's necessary to remain diverse," Grove said. "This is important because customers want one-stop shopping. They only want one purchase order and single source accountability."

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Having both laser and waterjet systems offers customers and Aloma the flexibility to choose the machine for each job, dependent on the workload of each machine. Determining which machine is more economical for the process saves time and money, according to Grove.

Multiple cutting technologies provide an added advantage in handling combination orders, such as a customer order that requires various material types and thicknesses. In such instances, a single order is split between two systems, reducing lead time and increasing part quality. Thin metals are processed on the lasers, and heavy plate or non-metals are processed on the waterjet.

"It eliminates the customer's need for a second vendor," Grove said. "Instead of going to two different shops, our customers just come to us, no matter what the material or the thickness, because we can do it all--and do it within tolerance." Bystronic Inc.

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