"Today I wouldn't buy a plasma machine": AbraService and its 30 kW PLUS 8025
A customer walks in with a wrecked part and no drawing. They want a new one, and they want it now. At AbraService Italia, that's an everyday request.
To keep up, AbraService has been through every cutting technology: oxyfuel, plasma, a 6 kW fiber laser. Today it runs a PLUS 8025 with a bevel head. And Francesco Bignetti, the company's CEO, has a clear opinion on plasma.
We met him twice. First in May, on stage at CUTLIVE26, our open house in Prato. Then in July, in his shop, next to the machine that now brings in a large share of their revenue: a 30 kW system for laser cutting abrasion-resistant steel.
Who AbraService is: abrasion-resistant steel specialists
Since 1986, AbraService has worked with a single family of materials: abrasion-resistant steels. These are high-strength steels with extremely high hardness.
These steels go into the machine components that wear out as they work. Recycling plants, crushers for ore and aggregate, marble processing, the concrete industry. Materials that eat metal, every single day.
The group has sites across Europe and in the United States. The Italian site has 22 people. «Within an international group, we keep a family-sized feel,» explains Bignetti. «It's a structure much like the many small companies that make the Italian economy thrive.»
A destroyed part, no drawing, delivery right now
At AbraService there are no large production runs, only one-off parts.
«This week a customer came in with a bucket that doubles as a screen,» he says. «The part was completely destroyed. We asked him for the drawing and he said: no, but you've got the part. Make me a new one, and fast.»
That's today's market. Inventories are cut to the bone, and when a rotor breaks, the customer's machinery sits idle. «The absolute requirement is immediate delivery.» To keep up, AbraService does everything in-house: cutting, bending, rolling, welding, machining. The customer receives the finished component.
From oxyfuel to 30 kW: why a PLUS 8025
The story of cutting at AbraService spans a whole generation of different machines. First oxyfuel cutting, then plasma, then a 6 kW fiber laser.
When it came to choosing the new laser for their machine fleet, two features were essential.
First: laser quality on thick plate too. «We needed to cut up to 40-50 mm with the quality of a laser cut. Clean, no burrs, no residue.»
Second: speed. Higher cutting performance means shorter lead times, which is what their customers ask about before price.
The choice was a Cutlite Penta PLUS 8025 with 30 kW, fitted with a head for bevel cutting.
Bevel: the edge comes out ready
For anyone making blades and wear parts, the bevel cut is no minor detail. «A good share of our customers ask for this finish,» explains Bignetti. «We cut directly at the angle they want, and we avoid reworking the part.»
That eliminates a downstream operation, because the edge leaves the machine ready to go.
Francesco Bignetti, CEO of AbraService Italia, on stage at CUTLIVE26 in Prato.
The tank lesson: cutting with air up to 20 mm
Back to that delay.
The machine was installed, but the permit for the nitrogen tank's location got stuck at the town hall in Cambiago. Almost a year's delay.
During that year the laser didn't stand still. The team learned to use compressed air as the assist gas and discovered something nobody had suggested to them.
«Up to 20 mm we can cut with air with excellent results, at half the power. Colleagues in the group who have the same machine tell me: what, you always use the full 30 kW? And I tell them no, I use 15 kW and cut with air.»
Today AbraService uses the machine across its full range: air, Gas Mix and nitrogen, depending on the job. The results by thickness, in Bignetti's words:
- From 3 mm to 40 mm: «an exceptional cut, perfect, shiny»
- 45-50 mm: «a good cut, acceptable»
- Grids with lots of holes: «far better» times than with the previous lasers
«For us, thin starts at 3 mm. For other kinds of work, that's the maximum thickness.»
Formula 1 or Formula 2? The driver decides
Bignetti is a motorsport enthusiast, and he uses a comparison everyone on the shop floor gets.
«A Formula 2 car has 600 horsepower, a Formula 1 has a thousand. On paper they look like two similar cars. Then you listen to the drivers: I got out of one and into the other, and it was like going from a bicycle to a spaceship.»
The same goes for a laser. «Machines can be as technically advanced as you like. In the end, it's the people using them who make the difference.»
Before you buy: where's your bottleneck?
From the CUTLIVE stage, Bignetti left some advice for anyone considering a high-power laser.
«There's no point having a machine with extremely high production speed if the bottleneck is in the next step, like bending. Or, as in my case: I've got a brilliant welder in the company, but only one. I can produce a mountain of parts to weld, and I'll still be stuck right there.»
The advice is simple: study your product, the markets you want to grow in, and the flow after cutting. Then choose the machine. And with hindsight, he adds, he would also have chosen more powerful compressors, to get even more out of air cutting.
That's why you need a partner who thinks through the whole system with you, not just the spec sheet.
Speed matters. But it's not everything
In his shop, in July, Bignetti put it even more clearly.
Speed is an important parameter, but it's not fundamental. What matters to us is that the machine never stops, never locks up, and always delivers optimal cutting quality, in every situation.
Every complex system needs a settling-in period once it's installed. So do the people running it, who need to get the hang of it. «Like all complicated machines, it had its teething problems. But Cutlite Penta has always stood right by us. They were absolutely proactive in helping us solve them.»
The 30 kW PLUS 8025 at work at AbraService Italia.
Three twin machines, four countries
The relationship with Cutlite Penta has crossed Italy's borders. The AbraService group now runs three twin machines: in Italy, France and Germany. A fourth is on its way to Poland.
«It's extremely important to have a partner that, like us, thinks across multiple markets,» says Bignetti. «One that doesn't just weigh power and technical specs, but designs the machine for a market that can be completely different depending on the country where it will work.»
And plasma?
Plasma is still there at AbraService. It handles the simplest jobs: «Taking a sheet and cutting it in half on the laser would mean spending 90-95% of the time loading and unloading the machine, because the cut itself is so fast.»
But Bignetti is also clear about this:
Today, a plasma machine is outdated. If I were starting from scratch, I wouldn't buy a plasma anymore: I'd go straight for a laser system.
Frequently asked questions
What thicknesses can a 30 kW laser cut in abrasion-resistant steel?
It depends on the material and the result you need. In AbraService's experience with a 30 kW PLUS 8025, the cut is «exceptional, perfect, shiny» from 3 to 40 mm and «good, acceptable» at 45-50 mm.
Which assist gas is used to cut abrasion-resistant steel?
It depends on the job and the finish required. AbraService uses the machine across its full range, with air, Gas Mix and nitrogen: on thicknesses up to 20 mm, it chose to cut with air, at around 15 kW.
What is the bevel cut for?
It lets you cut the part directly at the angle the customer wants. The edge comes off the machine ready, with no extra operation: for anyone making blades and wear parts, it is a much-requested finish.
Does a fiber laser fully replace plasma?
Not always. At AbraService, plasma still handles the simplest jobs, such as cutting a sheet in half, where on the laser most of the time would go into loading and unloading. For a new investment, though, Bignetti would go straight for a laser system.
Come and see the PLUS live
Want to see how it cuts your material, at your thickness? Book a demo at our demo area in Prato: you bring your sheet, we fire up the laser.
Discover what a Cutlite Penta fiber laser can do for your production
Tell us about your work: we'll help you find the laser system best suited to your thicknesses, volumes and goals.
