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 Thursday, August 06, 2009
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How wire unspooling rates can affect profits

I was recently made aware of a new video clip on the internet comparing wire consumption of 2 WEDMs.  I have provided a link to this clip so you can check it out.  The video shows 2 WEDM machines during the cut.  The camera focuses on the wire spools as they unspool wire during the rough cut of the same part detail.  The difference in unspooling rates is pretty staggering.  According to the video, both machines performed about as well regarding cycle times, accuracy and finish, but one of the machines uses 55% less wire than other.  This can represent a huge amount of money over time.  For a shop that has a machine that uses this much more wire, and spends say $10,000 a year for wire, the lower wire consumption means that this shop could reduce their wire expense by about $5500 per year, at today's wire price of about $5/lb for brass wire.  Commodity prices are rising again, and that means the raw materials needed to make wire (copper and zinc) are at a higher price as well.  This will tend to drive the price of wire even higher than today's price of about $5/lb.  Who remembers the days of brass wire costing $7-8/lb?  Well, if the price of wire goes up, the cost savings will be even more.  The other way to look at it is if the price of wire goes up, and you use a machine that consumes more wire, you have to either raise the price of the parts you make for your customers, or you will realize lower profits.



Some will say that most WEDMs can be run at far lower wire speeds, which is true.  However, if these machines are set to lower wire feed rates, they will also see longer cycle times.  As wire feed rates are reduced, cutting speeds must also be reduced to avoid things like excessive wire breaks, inaccuracies, and poor surface finishes.

Makino has been working with their customers for several years, educating them on the added value provided by Makino WEDMs, that do indeed use far less wire to do the same job as other machines.  In today's extremely competitive business environment, who can afford not to consider a machine that has proven itself to save several thousand dollars each year in wire cost?  Especially if that machine can achieve results equal to or better than competitors that consume 30%-55% more wire.

I will be presenting a webinar on September 10 that will address this issue in detail.  In the meantime, you can contact me to receive a free wire consumption calculator that will allow you to input wire feeds, cutting speeds, and cost of wire per pound to see just how much wire is used, and how much you spend in wire, for any given job.

Consumables | High Speed Burning
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