Metal Jumbo: born in hot-dip galvanizing, today it laser cuts up to 35 mm
Three and a half years, two machines and an automatic storage system: Metal Jumbo went from a 6 kW LME to a 12 kW PLUS, and today it cuts up to 35 mm thick.
It is an interesting route because it starts a long way off: the company, part of the Giambarini Group, was born in hot-dip galvanizing, not in cutting. Manuel Gagni, head of laser cutting and bending, told us how you get to a second machine, and Alessio Venturini told us why this story also resembles ours.
Who Metal Jumbo are
Metal Jumbo is part of the Giambarini Group and has a long history in metalworking, with sites in Lombardy and in Turin. The company started out focused on hot-dip galvanizing, and in recent years it decided to invest in laser cutting.
That detail changes the meaning of everything else: a company entering cutting from galvanizing is not replacing a machine, it is adding an operation it used to buy outside. And when you add an operation it has to pay from the start, because you are not replacing revenue: you are creating new revenue.
Why a galvanizing plant buys a laser
The answer is in the cycle: if you cut the part, bend it and then galvanize it yourself, the customer asks you for a finished product instead of three operations to coordinate. Laser cutting was the missing piece upstream.
The result, Gagni says, was widening the range of orders the company can accept: not the same orders done better, but orders that previously never made it into a quotation.
Three and a half years, two machines
The route is short in time and clear in direction:
- three and a half years ago: the first machine, a 6 kW LME
- then a 12 kW PLUS, double the power
- and to complete the investment, an automatic storage system
Why Cutlite Penta
The first factor, Gagni says, was value for money: finding a laser that performs and holds precision at that level of investment is not common. But the machine, he adds, is only part of it.
The other part was working with Alessio Venturini, Area Manager for Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna and Piedmont, who followed the company step by step and remained the same point of contact from the start. On an investment made in two stages, years apart, having the same person answer the phone counts as much as a datasheet.
A growth that looks like ours
Venturini reads this story in parallel with ours, and the interesting part is that he does not boast about it: Metal Jumbo started from an entry system and arrived at a high-performance machine, and that happened when Cutlite Penta was not yet established on the market as it is today. At that point the trust was mutual because neither side had much to show.
They started from an entry system and arrived at the 12 kW PLUS. We grew together, back when Cutlite Penta was not yet established on the market as it is today.
What it cuts: up to 35 mm, and the holes
The models were chosen on production needs: they needed a machine able to handle different products, with thicknesses up to 35 mm. When the PLUS arrived the work was optimized immediately, and programming became simpler to manage.
The two things that beat expectations, according to Gagni, are the precision of holes even on heavy thicknesses and the processing speed. The first is the one you see best: on a thick part, a small hole in tolerance is the hardest result to get with any other technology.
It is also why a galvanizing company entering cutting starts uphill rather than downhill: the parts that sell best are not the simple profiles, they are the ones with the right holes.
People count more than software
Laser programming is handled by two main operators, one of whom is Gagni, supported by three or four operators. The software is intuitive and cuts down errors, but on this point Gagni is blunt, and his sentence says more than any description of the program.
The real strength of the company is its technicians, able to get the most out of the machines.
Frequently asked questions
Which Cutlite Penta machines does Metal Jumbo use?
Two systems: a 6 kW LME, bought three and a half years ago, and a 12 kW PLUS that came later, with an automatic storage system completing the investment. The machines handle different products, with thicknesses up to 35 mm.
Why buy a second laser instead of replacing the first?
Because the two machines cover different ranges. At Metal Jumbo the 6 kW LME was the entry system into laser cutting; the 12 kW PLUS added power and thickness, reaching 35 mm. Keeping both means sending every job to the machine that does it at the lowest cost.
Can a galvanizing company move into laser cutting?
Metal Jumbo was born in hot-dip galvanizing and added laser cutting in recent years. The advantage is one of cycle: a company that cuts, bends and galvanizes in house delivers a finished product instead of an operation. According to the company the main effect was an increase in the number of orders it can accept.
How thick can a 12 kW laser cut?
It depends on material, required finish and assist gas. At Metal Jumbo the 12 kW PLUS handles different products with thicknesses up to 35 mm, and the precision of holes on heavy thicknesses is one of the results the company cites as beating expectations.
Are you adding cutting to what you already do?
Bring us your drawings and your material: cutting gets tested in our DEMO area in Prato, on your own parts. And you start from the right machine, not the biggest one.
