Engineering firm enters the 3-D world of laser cutting--Systems Engineering & Manufacturing now makes its innovative designs a reality

摘要

Many fabricating operations begin life producing parts to print. Systems Engineering & Manufacturing (SE&M), Forest, Va., is not that type of shop. The company began life advising a customer in the defense industry how to make its metal parts more efficiently, and that design expertise has become SE&M's calling card. "[Design expertise] is the only way to stand out," said Bob Schmidt, SE&M president. "That's why our customers come to us- for solutions, not to make parts." To help deliver those solutions, however, SE&M needed a flexible tool capable of working with a variety of raw materials, from flat sheet metal to already-formed tube stock. The company purchased a laser cutting machine capable of 2-D processing; 3-D cutting of preformed shapes; and 3-D rotary cutting of tube, pipe, and structural shapes.