Wolverhampton Electro Plating (WEP) has purchased a SLCR Lasertechnik LAMA™ machine for the cleaning and pre-treatment of parts.
The company said the machine can effectively clean nuts, bolts and parts in bulk prior to coating without the need for water, chemicals or shot blasting. Instead, it uses lasers, which offer environmental and cost-saving benefits by simplifying the cleaning process from many steps to just one.
“We are delighted to be leading the way in the industry with a significant investment in this game-changing new technology, which arrived from Germany last month and has been assembled ready for final testing,” said Denis Rainbird, General Manager of WEP. “The LAMA machine removes all that energy and expense by using high-powered lasers at just a fraction of the electricity. This will improve our carbon footprint as a business, as well as lowering costs and speeding up turnaround times.”
Rainbird added that final testing is underway. The company will start using the technology for customers later in the year.
Previously, WEP worked with SLCR Lasertechnik for more than two years to develop a pre-treatment machine specifically for its zinc flake dip-spin operations at its Wolverhampton facilities.
“Using the LAMA machine, coatings or surface pollutants are vaporised by repetitive laser pulses without damaging adjacent layers or the substrate. We believe this unique surface treatment method will improve efficiencies and reduce WEP's CO2 footprint by over 35%, eliminating chemicals and media blasting in the preparation process,” said Olav Schulz, Managing Director of SLCR Lasertechnik.
