Van der Veen is referring here to the Logic sheet metal storage rack that he purchased at the same time as his laser cutter: “It’s a taller version. The rack has 32 drawers as standard, but we have 46. Trumpf also supplies racks itself, but they have just 16 drawers. And, in any case, nothing was stopping me from looking elsewhere. This is a very compact storage rack that fits into our workshop perfectly.”
The vacuum lifter that Hovécon uses to move the sheets onto the machine was also supplied by aalbers|farina. “It’s convenient, as we have rotated the rack ninety degrees in relation to the laser cutter. It works incredibly well. We are also considering buying a shorter version for our other workshop in the future, and possibly a long materials storage rack too. But those are plans for another day.”
serving customers quickly, even in the evening or at weekends
In Van der Veen’s view what are the main benefits of his sheet metal storage rack? “We need less space for storage and it gives us an overview. Everything is in one place. We can also purchase bigger batches of sheets at once, as I know I have somewhere to store them and we’ll be able to use them eventually. I’m keen to fill this rack, as I want to be able to serve our customers quickly. Even if they call in the evening or at weekends. Cutting and supplying without delay is what it’s all about. Saying no isn’t something we do.”
“As we keep track of the nesting of the sheets in the system, we are able to cut more efficiently”, he continues. “Consequently, we have much less cutting waste. We process three different types of sheet metal here: steel, stainless steel and aluminium. As we know exactly what is in each drawer, errors are a thing of the past.”
“We are always getting compliments, as it is so neat and tidy here and our machines look so clean. There are people who see their machines as an obligation, but I get pleasure from them. We enjoy our work and like making sure that everything is attractively presented. That means we neatly round off the corners of a sheet, but also that we keep our machines nice and clean. Trumpf recently said that they’d never before seen one of their laser cutters still looking so good after two years of use.”