Rexarc International Inc.
West Alexander, Ohio
rexarc.com

Byron's old gas system supplied insufficient and inconsistent pressure and flow to the shop's laser, producing rough cuts requiring five minutes of finishing per piece. (bottom blade). With its new system, the shop produces blades requiring one minute of finishing work (top blade).

Byron's palletized mini-bulk gas system ate up production time and space (top photo), so the shop switched to high-pressure cylinder banks and Rexarc's Laser Manifold with Zero Drop technology (bottom).

Byron Products' business depends on maintaining part quality and fast response time. The company prides itself on an ability to combine the craftsmanship of artisans with state-oftheart technology.

Byron, West Chester, Ohio, (byronproducts.com) supplies components to some of the best known commercial brands in the United States. Among those components are blades for a U.S. manufacturer of custom hunting knives. Byron's employees cut the knife-blade profiles on a Mazak Super Turbo-X48 Hi-Pro laser cutter. However, the process fell short of Byron's production and quality standards. Fortunately, the shop's welding consumables supplier, F&M Mafco, Cincinnati, Ohio, (fmmafco.com) solved the problems.

"Byron was using a palletized, mini-bulk system of liquid cans of nitrogen and oxygen," says Don Biehl, F&M Mafco's manager of industrial gases, "and that supply arrangement created several problems." It required over 300 sq ft of floor space that could be used for additional produciton or inventory. Each time a can was finished, it took 25 minutes to change it, wasting labor and laser productivity. In addition, the can's delayed response caused inconsistent flow and pressure at the laser nozzle. The result was poor cuts and multiple hot spots on the blades, which required an additional five minutes of finishing work.

Most gas distributors, according to Biehl, would recommend a bulk tank in Byron's situation. "While this is one solution for supplying the necessary-gas pressure and flow for one or two machines," he says, "it does not take into account other business variables." Bulk tanks are expensive to install and involve extensive commitmentsof up to 10 years from distributors and manufacturers.

"We are a small fabricator, but we are growing quickly," says Jeff Byron, operations manager for Byron Products. "We don't own our building and don't know when or if we are moving, so we need to maintain flexibility."

When Biehl discussed this situation with Mark Campbell, territory sales manager for Rexarc International Inc. both thought a system of manifolded high-pressure cylinders would work, but they were not sure exactly how.

Rexarc manufactures gas control equipment, but it did not have a manifold that could supply the necessary 7,500 cu ft/hr at 450 psig to keep Byron's laser operating at peak performance. "As it turns out, no one else could, either," says Campbell. "The best we could find was 6,000 cu ft/hr at 400 psig." Campbell took the problem to Rexarc's team of engineers, sales professionals, and manager of technical services.

Rexarc could manifold high-pressure cylinder banks for supplying the necessary gas, but the problem was with traditional manifolds where there is a significant drop in flow or pressure occurring when switching from supply to reserve. Rexarc's Zero Drop technology remedied the problem. With Zero Drop technology, supply systems deliver up to 7,500 cu ft/hr at 450 psig of gas to nozzles without discernable drops in flow or pressure during cylinder changeover. "The difference was like night and day," says Paul Dubuque, Byron's plant manager. "We gained prime floor space for storing inventory in a location convenient for workers. Now each blade takes less than a minute to finish. The improved productivity and reduced finishing time saves us over 650 man-hours yearly."