Australia’s manufacturing industry embraces new technology as quickly as anywhere else. Perhaps more quickly, in fact, given that the country likes to stand on its own two feet wherever possible, so engineering workshops everywhere—from the major cities to smaller outposts serving the farming industry—are all keen to find better ways of going about this most basic of tasks.
The arrival of the laser in the early 1960s marked a significant moment in the world of metal cutting, and the sophisticated newcomer seemed to represent a departure from what had come to look like standard heavy industry. How could this new technology be harnessed to do the work that the relatively primitive oxy-fuel machines had been doing?
Fast forward to the second quarter of the 21st century and the CNC laser cutting machines available here look almost too sleek and smooth to exist in this industry where bigger has traditionally been better and unrelenting heat and noise have been the lot of the engineer’s life. The CNC laser cutter is a very different technology.
What is CNC and How Does it Help?
CNC stands for Computer Numerical Control, and it is the icing on the laser cutting cake. Not only has the brute force of the oxy-fuel regime been superseded, but digital technology has entered the arena. No longer is the onus all on the operator to carry out the precision work.
The computer wizardry that carries out so many little jobs for us—from changing the channel on the TV to calling someone on the other side of the world—can make a laser cut whatever shape we want, whether for practical purposes or for decoration.
Cutting has developed to meet the needs of the industries it serves. If you need it to make repairs to something that has been damaged way out in the middle of nowhere, you just have to scout around for a workshop that is suitably equipped and give them the dimensions and any other relevant information.
And these places do exist. Not around every corner, but in every state and probably not too far away from you there will be someone with a CNC laser cutting machine that can do precisely what you need—and precisely is the operative word, because this kind of work is all about being exact, carried out with the unceasing, tireless precision that computers can do, precisely because they are not human.
They don’t get tired, they don’t get sloppy, they don’t do a quick job because it’s the last one of the day. Like them or loathe them, computers will do the same thing over and over if you program them to do so.
What is the Human Role in CNC Laser Cutting?
As the owner of the workshop, you choose the make and model of the machine and you determine what materials you’re going to work with. That is the state of play at present anyway—although the advance of AI and concepts such as smart factories, the Internet of Things and something called Industry 4.0 may well have a progressively greater influence on these things as we come to understand and trust them.
Industry 4.0 is named to represent the fourth industrial revolution, which tells us how far down this road of modern technology we have come already.
It would be easy to say the death of heavy industry was not just upon us but has already happened. But that is self-evidently not true. Not yet. The world still needs heavy-duty metal cutting as part of engineering and construction projects.
What we are seeing at the moment is the civilising of these industries, the introduction of brain in a world where brawn has traditionally ruled.
Look at Australia’s wine industry, for instance. It’s a big employer for local communities, a big earner for the country and a sign of our ever-increasing sophistication. It is not too big a stretch to say that CNC laser cutting has played a significant part in this. Consider the gleaming kit in any modern winery. While a few traditionalists may use wood, whether to add something to the character of the wine or in some cases more to make a point, it is stainless steel we see in these places. And how were all these vats, storage tanks and who-knows-what-else pieces of equipment made? They started life as sheets of steel and were cut and shaped into what we see today.
The equipment we see on farms may not be quite so clean and shiny because of the nature of the work that has to be done, but again, not so long ago this was just sheets of metal waiting to be given a purpose. Then the expert metal cutters did their stuff and the results are visible everywhere.
The growth of CNC laser cutting in Australia’s manufacturing industry is right here. Cutting metal might not be the most glamorous trade in the world, but it is a necessary one—and with a state-of-the-art CNC laser cutting machine, every metal-cutting company in this country can be among the major players in their region.
Thriving in business has always been about keeping up to date and harnessing the best ideas for your purposes. This is no different and every bit as important as any other development.