The good thing about laser cutting and engraving is the speed at which they can etch a pattern or carve even an intrinsic design. However, that’s not enough to boost production. Laser operators often need to look for ways to maximize their productivity. Are you, too, looking for ways to use lasers efficiently?
If so, use Trumpf Parts and Bystronic Spare Parts for laser consumables. They are durable and provide better quality than other brands.
The other tips that ensure using laser machine to its highest potential are:
1. Engrave Multiple Items in One Go
If you want to boost your production, engrave multiple products in one. It reduces the processing time, efforts, and even cost to a certain extent. For instance, you have to engrave plaques or courses with similar designs. So, there you can print multiple at one instead of designing one at a time. It will help you save your time by 37 percent, says a study.
However, the number of items you can design depends on your graphic table size. Therefore, make sure that your paper size of the graphic design program meets the highest table size. By doing so, you can print maximum items at once. You can use a jig to space the items so that they don’t mix up while engraving.
2. Adjust Resolution
Image resolution is important in engraving. The higher the resolution, the better would be the image. But higher the DPI, the more time it would take to engrave. DPI refers to dots per inch, and higher DPI means the engraving dots will be closer. It would result in a higher detailed image. However, it would take more time.
If you want to engrave in a shorter time, you can go for a low-resolution image. It would save your time by around 33%. You can also offset your resolution with dithering patterns. Dithering patterns are visual dot patterns that you can see in lower DPI. Therefore, to achieve target results adjust resolution and DPI with dithering patterns. You can engrave your design in less time.
3. Use Color Mapping
Color mapping further helps save time. Let’s say your design consists of three columns with 30 names in each. The laser machine would consider it as a whole instead of separate columns. It would pass through the white space and engrave the names in one color.
So, to avoid this, you can use color mapping. It would enable you to skip the white spaces and assign different colors to columns, along with engraving order. With this process, your laser would consider columns as different and engrave accordingly. It would travel through the white space only when it has to switch to the next column. The color mapping approach can save you 47% more than others.
4. Pre-Engrave Items
Customization is popular. Many businesses are adopting it to enhance the customer experience. But for your laser engraving business, it can be inefficient. If you have to engrave the same designs repetitively, it can increase the production time, resulting in inefficiency. However, you can curb it by pre-engraving the inventory before single orders come in. For example, you can pre-design a batch of keychains or cutting boards. When an order comes in, you can add a custom quote or saying according to customers and pass it on. With a little change, you can avoid bottlenecks in day-to-day orders. Also, the small change would take less time than engraving the entire design.
What’s More?
Use center engraving to set custom jobs on items. Using a job manager to streamline the laser workflow is also a great idea to boost productivity. In addition to these, make sure to add high-quality branded parts like Trumpf parts and Bystronic spare parts. After all, maintaining consumables is also a trick to increase laser efficiency.
