The steel people invest in versatile esab plasma technology

Services and products supplied by The Steel People include balustrades, railings, balcony platforms in mild and stainless steel as well as steel beams, columns and sections for builders, civil engineers and the DIY market. The company's continuous investment in new plant has helped it to maintain its market leading position through the ability to respond quickly to the needs of both existing and new customers.

This has included the investment in the ESAB Eagle M3 200 amp plasma marking and cutting machine to replace an air plasma machine. Providing productivity, accuracy and environmental benefits, the Eagle forms part of a complete system which includes ESAB Columbus programming software, a fume extraction table and air filtration system. The Columbus interfaces with the company's in-house structural steel production software for a fully integrated production process.

The versatility of the Eagle plasma machine was of great importance to the company. . The facility to mark and cut steel on one machine saves the company time during the fabrication process. In addition, the ability to cut base plate holes of both small and large diameters is also a great time saver and has helped the company to dispense with additional drilling operations. The plasma process also ensures high quality cutting including superior hole performance with very tight tolerances and high accuracy.

For The Steel People, the investment in the M3 has had multiple benefits and they believe it provides a complete solution for the structural steel fabricator, bringing new levels of productivity and allowing the company to take on additional customers and work without any further investment.