CO2 laser cutting and fiber laser cutting are widely used cutting methods at present. How about the operating costs of them? When considering cutting technology and productivity advantages, operating cost of fiber laser cutting is less than the half of CO2, and cutting speed is more than twice that of CO2. That’s why fiber laser cutting is becoming more and more popular.

Cutting technology affects cost

The focused beam of even a 2kW fiber laser possesses 5 times more power density and 2.5 times more absorption than a 4kW CO2 focused beam due to the nature of the beam size and the wavelength comparison. This means is that higher feed rates can be achieved with a fiber laser as compared to a CO2 laser, producing up to five times more parts per unit of time depending on the fiber laser power.
Because you can produce three to five times more parts with fiber lasers, production time and cost of per part are reduced. By producing parts faster, you can create additional machine capacity to cut additional parts, increasing revenue.

Compared with CO2 laser with Electrical consumption on a Fiber laser is lower by almost three times as compared to a CO2 laser of the same output power wattage, lowering your effective cost per part. Eliminating maintenance on beam delivery optics, the beam path bellows and purge system, and the vacuum pump, frees up additional machine capacity.

At the same output power, the power consumption of fiber laser is nearly three times lower than that of CO2 laser, so that lowering effective cost per part.

Once choosing fiber laser cutting machine, you don’t need to wait 10min until the CO2 laser at full operating potential, this is another way to increase production capacity. Also the beam alignment and the beam size never change on the fiber laser, which contribute to the consistency of cutting. You don’t need to spend time adjusting the parameters because the parts are always consistent in cut quality from shift to shift and from day to day.

Repair and maintenance cost comparisons

One of the largest variable cost factors for older equipment is the cost to repair and maintain it. How much is the cost to repair the equipment contributing to the total variable cost? How much more, as a percentage, does the cost to repair and maintain differ from when the machine was new? Of course, you will need to make this comparison based on an equal number of operating hours. Generally speaking, unlike CO2 lasers, fiber laser cutting reduces maintenance on beam delivery optics, beam path bellows and purge systems, and vacuum pumps.

Justifying the fiber laser investment

After evaluating the full potential of fiber laser technology, you will realize that compared with CO2 laser cutting, you can produce three to five times more parts at half the operating costs, while simultaneously creating more machine capacity.  This will enable you to cut additional parts and occupy more market share.

Retrofitting CO2 to Fiber Laser By Newlaz

Newlaz is engaged in retrofitting CO2 to fiber laser for more than 4 years with relevant patented technology. There are more than 100 customers from different countries and regions who have carried out our retrofit solution and recover their investment cost. If you want to know more info, welcome to contact us.