The right fibre laser power is the power that produces your required parts reliably and economically. A higher kW rating can improve cutting performance on suitable work, but the investment needs to be qualified against your production mix and the capacity of the workshop around it.
Start with the orders you expect to make regularly. Then compare complete jobs at an agreed quality standard, including the services, handling and secondary operations needed to deliver them.
Build a thickness mix from real orders
List your material grades, thicknesses, sheet sizes and required finishes. Record recurring quantities, typical batch sizes and the proportion of production time each group occupies. A small number of thick-plate orders can consume more cutting time than a larger number of thin-sheet orders.
Separate regular production from occasional enquiries. Maximum severance thickness is not the same as an economical production thickness with acceptable edge quality, hole detail and repeatability.
Select trial drawings that represent the mix: long profiles, small holes, dense nests and parts with demanding edges. Include the material condition you actually buy. One clean demonstration sheet cannot establish performance across the workload.
Define utilisation before forecasting extra output
Agree what utilisation means in your comparison. Record scheduled hours, machine availability and actual processing time separately. A laser may be available all day while spending much of the shift waiting for a programme, sheet or operator.
Measure loading, piercing, cutting, table exchange, unloading and the work needed to release parts to the next operation. Distinguish tasks that overlap from those that stop production.
For illustration, if a job takes 10 minutes to cut and another 10 minutes in sequential handling, halving the cutting time reduces the total from 20 to 15 minutes. That is a 25% reduction in elapsed time, before any other constraints are considered. It is not a doubling of workshop output.
Qualify the gas supply and the finished edge together
Assist gas affects both operating cost and the cut result. Oxygen, nitrogen and compressed air are different process choices; their suitability depends on material, thickness, equipment and the edge required for the next operation.
Ask the supplier to state gas type, required purity, pressure and flow for each trial. Check peak demand at the machine during representative production, rather than relying on the capacity printed on a tank or compressor.
Include delivery or generation, storage, pipework and any drying or filtration required. If air cutting is proposed, establish its effect on edge condition and subsequent welding or finishing. If oxide removal is required after cutting, include that work in the comparison.
Check extraction, electrical supply and cooling
Confirm the extraction package for the intended materials, cutting duty and machine arrangement. Establish airflow and ducting requirements, filtration, waste handling and the maintenance access needed to keep performance consistent.
Obtain electrical and cooling requirements for the complete installation. Laser source output is not the electrical demand of the whole system: the chiller, extraction, handling equipment and gas-generation equipment may all affect the site assessment.
Resolve installation requirements before comparing purchase prices. Upgrading services after the machine arrives can delay production and change the investment case.
Make sure handling can support the proposed cutting rate
Compare table exchange and loading cycles with the actual nests. Check sheet weights, material changes and the time needed to clear finished work. Faster cutting may increase the frequency of operator intervention.
Specify what a loading or tower package does with the completed nest. If staff still separate components, identify parts and remove the skeleton, those tasks need enough capacity to support the projected output.
Test the capacity after the laser
Follow the trial parts through deburring, bending, welding and finishing. Ask how much extra work those operations can absorb within the available shifts, tooling and staffing.
A larger queue at the press brake is not additional delivered capacity. Where another process is already constrained, include the cost and practicalities of increasing its capacity, or limit the sales case to the improvements the laser can actually deliver.
Use one qualification record for each configuration
| Check | Evidence to request |
|---|---|
| Thickness and material mix | The same representative drawings, grades, quantities and quality criteria. |
| Complete cycle | Measured start and finish points, overlap assumptions, setup and interventions. |
| Gas and utilities | Trial consumption, supply requirements and complete installed electrical demand. |
| Accepted quality | Measured features, edge condition, rejects and required secondary finishing. |
| Handling and staffing | Operator time, stock replenishment, separation, sorting and scrap removal. |
| Workshop capacity | A credible route through downstream processes at the proposed output. |
| Economics | Cost per accepted part at realistic demand, with capital, service and operating assumptions stated. |
Ask for a production trial long enough to expose repeated loading, material changes and normal interventions. Agree acceptance criteria before it starts and retain the measured parts and results.
Higher power is justified when it improves the work you can sell and deliver at an acceptable total cost. Where waiting and handling dominate, read our guide to choosing between more laser power and more automation.
Compare laser configurations around your workload
Send Selmach a representative drawing pack, material and thickness mix, and expected quantities. We can discuss the Morgan Rushworth fibre laser configurations and handling options to assess against your production requirements.
Published 5th November 2026