The company and products
Twenty-year-old Greiner Industries has many repeat customers, but it seldom does the same job twice. “Seventy five percent of our work is ‘once and done’,” says Cutting Supervisor Gene Mellinger. The Mt. Joy, Pennsylvania job shop manufactures ductwork, structural steel, mining equipment and more from specialty steels, aluminum, stainless and assorted grades of mild steel.The problem
Greiner’s old oxyfuel systems weren’t able to keep up with the work. Rather than buy another cutting table, add a shift or turn away work, the company recognized that their L-Tec CNC table was badly in need of an upgrade..The solution
Greiner decided to speed up production with the Hypertherm HT2000 plasma system. The HT2000 makes it possible for Greiner to cut 3/4" (19 mm) mild steel at 55 inches per minute (165 cm/min) compared to 14 ipm (35 cm/min) using oxyfuel.Fabricator Raises Cut Speeds 540%, Cuts Overall Job Times in Half
Custom metal
fabrication demands
fast, flexible
manufacturing.
Greiner Industries’
business was outpacing
production capacity.
Greiner replaced
oxyfuel cutting with
Hypertherm plasma.
Compared to oxyfuel,
HT2000 increases
cutting speeds 4.6 times
on 3/4" (19 mm) mild
steel and 6.4 times on
1/4" (6 mm) plate.
Faster, easier operation
raises productivity of
personnel by as much
as 40%.
Benefits
“You’ve got to have plasma cutting capabilities
to compete in this industry,” Mellinger says.
“Greiner Industries chose Hypertherm on the
strength of its reputation. It’s hard to find a
Hypertherm owner who doesn’t like it.”
Now Hypertherm plasma helps Greiner make
the cut – every time.
292% faster cut speed on 3/4" (19 mm) steel.
Versatility: Using oxygen with an air shield,
the HT2000 cuts as thin as 18 gauge (1.3 mm) with no warping and as thick as
1" (25 mm) with little or no cleanup of the
cut edge.
Plasma cutting eliminates the need to adjust
gas pressures, preheat metals and other
inefficiencies of oxyfuel.
Jobs are being completed in half the time.
The greater efficiency has allowed Greiner
to increase its business nearly 40% without
adding a third shift.
Based on these advantages and more,
Greiner added a Hypertherm HT4001 with a
slave power unit. In addition to normal mild
steel cutting, the system enables Greiner to
cut aluminum and stainless steel as thick as
3" (7.6 cm).