ESAB cutting machine has increased the productivity of the blank production by 25%

Neftemash plant increased the productivity of manual plasma cutting by 25 % and reduced the number of defects by 90 %, thanks to the introduction of cutting equipment from ESAB, one of the leaders in the production of equipment and consumables for welding and cutting.
Over the past few years, the company has been upgrading its production facilities and engineering. Among the key problems that needed to be solved were the slow speed of metal processing, unsatisfactory quality of the resulting blanks,as well as difficulties with ensuring the safety of fire operations.
In 2017, Neftemash turned to ESAB to optimize the cutting process. As a result, the number of milling operations decreased by 70%, which saved money for the purchase of a new milling machine and additional tools.
The factory installed the COMBIREX 3500 combined portal thermal metal cutting machine with numerical control, a 3D cutting unit for DMX chamfering and a gas cutter. The unit cuts sheets of low-carbon steel with a thickness of 5 to 200 mm using a plasma torch and a gas cutter, and its configuration allows you to quickly produce a larger number of blanks from a sheet of metal with high accuracy and quality.
The Columbus III software allows you to create drawings of parts and transfer them from a personal computer to a cutting machine. The accuracy of positioning the plasmatron and chamfering is provided by the DMX unit, equipped with sensors designed to prevent collisions.
Also, to improve the efficiency of manual plasma cutting, a Cutmaster 80 unit with a 15 m long sl60 plasma torch was purchased for production, covering a working area within a radius of up to 30 m. The unit allows you to perform finishing cutting of metals with a thickness of up to 25 mm, the maximum cutting thickness reaches 38 mm, which is optimal for the production of drilling rigs and installations where the range varies from 4 to 11 mm.
The device is characterized by a small weight of 19.5 kg, which makes it possible to carry it without assistance, is equipped with an indicator-type air pressure sensor and a built-in diagnostic and fault indication system, and also does not need oxygen and combustible gas cylinders.
The Neftemash plant is located in Otradnoye, Samara region and is a branch of Uralmash NGO holding, the largest domestic manufacturer of drilling rigs for operational and deep exploration drilling.
"The acquisition of our own equipment for metal cutting is a big step that not all enterprises take, especially today, in the unstable economic situation in the world. The expediency of such a significant financial investment may not be obvious at first glance – the purchase does not pay off immediately, but in the long term, it can not only significantly reduce the production costs of the enterprise, but also significantly improve the quality of workpieces, " comments Konstantin Demidov, head of the productive cutting group of ESAB