Announcing Their Newest Machine Tool Acquisition: The Trumpf TruLaser 3040 Fiber Laser With An 80” x 160” Bed! Southwest Waterjet and Laser (SWWJ & Laser) is celebrating its first decade in business. In a competitive industry that makes growth challenging for the most experienced machine shops, let alone startups, the company continues to experience strong growth. Its customers number in the hundreds, and SWWJ & Laser cuts parts for regional customers in Arizona, California, and New Mexico — and even as far as Hawaii and NewYork.A testament to their quality of work is in one set of customers — metals distributors, who see many machine shops in their travels — and use SWWJ & Laser for their waterjet and laser cutting needs. And where many shops aren’t able or willing to accommodate prototype parts, SWWJ & Laser is eager to help customers of all sizes. Some of the prototype type work they have supported has turned into production for the company.
Mike Gudin and his wife Debra launched the business, which they named Southwest Waterjet, in 2007.Today, the family business employs Mike and Debra’s 3 sons and other family members, in addition to the experienced team members who have been with the company for many years now. It was founded exclusively as a waterjet cutting business; their first waterjet was an Omax waterjet. Over the next years, Southwest Waterjet continued to expand, adding more Omax waterjets to the business. Today, the company owns 4 Omax waterjets, including the Omax A-Jet, which allows them to cut up to 59-degree angled cuts. 4 years ago, Mike and his team made the decision to expand the company’s capabilities, purchasing a new state-of-the-art Trumpf 4 Kilowatt CO2 3030Trulaser. Mike says, “Waterjet cutting is an excellent process for many materials and applications, including thick stainless and aluminum, but there are often times when laser cutting is a better, more cost effective solution.” He continued, “Our customers truly value the fact that our company offers both machining techniques, dictated by the one that will yield the best, most cost effective parts for them.” With the expansion of the business into laser cutting, SouthwestWaterjet changed its name to Southwest Waterjet and Laser (SWWJ & Laser). Mike and Debra recognize that one of the key factors in growing a successful business is continuous improvement and the willingness to A2Z MANUFACTURING SW •
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invest in the technology (machine tools) that facilitates cost and operational efficiencies as well as product improvements. Just last year, the company certified to ISO 9001:2015. While the team at SWWJ & Laser had built the processes in place prior to certification, they all agree that the actual certification has made it easier to acquire new customers and to grow their business with current customers. In May of this year, they installed their newest laser, a Trumpf 4KW Fiber Optic Trulaser 3040, with a large 80” x 160” bed! To their knowledge, there isn’t a job shop in all of Arizona with a Fiber Laser with table size as large as they have, at 80” x 160”. The TruLaser 3040 is a fiber optic laser machine, where their Trumpf 3030 Trulaser was a C02 laser, and it had a smaller 60” x 120” table size. This new laser really expands their capabilities. Mike says, “The Trumpf Trulaser 3040 allows us to cut copper and brass more accurately and cleaner than with the waterjets. In addition, the new 4KW fiber laser cuts materials we have been cutting for years significantly faster.” Son Michael added, “With the Trumpf Trulaser 3040, we can cut certain materials quicker.” This is made possible by the exceptional machine tool technology produced by Trumpf. One example of this is the smaller fiber optic beam diameter on the 3040 Fiber laser. This means the energy is absorbed more intensely by the material than with a CO2 laser. The Trulaser 3040 applies more energy to the sheet metal, which enables faster cutting. Mike also values the cost savings that results from the reduced power consumption that theTrumpf 3040TruLaser allows for. Michael says, “The Trumpf Trulaser 3040 can easily cut up to 1” carbon steel, 3/4” stainless steel, and 3/4” aluminum. Prior to theTrumpfTrulaser 3040, we were cutting stainless steel at 110 inches per minute, and with