Arrow, which began operations in 1969, has 20 employees at its 15,000 sq. ft. facility.
Arrow is a sheetmetal job shop that serves a variety of customers in various industries including heating, electrical distribution, pulp and paper and more.
The company offers a variety of services including laser cutting, punching, bending, welding, shearing, bandsawing, and more.
The firm works with a variety of materials including mild and stainless steel, aluminum, and galvanized steel.
In general, Arrow's part runs range from one-offs up to 1,000 pieces. Typically, Arrow is dealing with material thicknesses ranging from 20 gauge to 10 gauge.
When Gosse began his search for a laser cutting system, he had some very specific needs that the laser system to be selected had to meet.
For example, Gosse says that because Arrow does a lot of tube and pipe cutting, he was looking for a laser system with a rotary axis.
"Right away, a lot of laser machines were ruled out because they didn't come with a rotary axis and you couldn't put a rotary axis on," he explains.
Space on Arrow's plant floor was another critical issue. "We have some space issues in our shop and we are very tight for space.
"As a result, the footprint of whatever machine that I was going to buy was vital. If the machine didn't fit in a certain area, we didn't want to have to start knocking down walls (to accommodate the system)," says Gosse.
A third consideration was the power consumption of the system, he adds.
"Some laser processes seem to use a lot more electricity than other laser processes.  I only have 100 KVA (of electricity) coming into the entire plant.
"There were other competing laser systems (that required over 100 KVA). If I had selected one of those laser systems I couldn't go beyond a 2,500 watt system.
"However, we cut a lot of thick materials and I needed as much wattage as I could get. As a result, electrical consumption (by the laser system) became a major issue for us," he explains.
Following an extensive search, the laser system that met all of Arrow's requirements was the PRIMA DOMINO machine.
The company subsequently installed the DOMINO laser in 2004. The DOMINO laser system was supplied by Westway Machinery Ltd., Mississauga, ON (westwaymachinery.com).
The DOMINO is a five-axis CO2 laser system with pallet changer designed for 2D and 3D processing of both flat sheet and shaped pieces.
The 3,500 watt laser system features a reduced footprint and a large work volume of 2,500mm x 1250mm x 370mm.
The DOMINO also offers a rotary axis (360? continuous without limitation). The laser system offers optimum accessibility as the workpiece can be loaded from the side, front, or top of the machine.
The  laser cutting head allows very complex processing without the risk of interference with workpieces and equipment.
The heavy-duty cutting head allows the machining of different materials and thicknesses and accurate control of the process without manual intervention.
This is made possible by the numerical-controlled F-axis for the automatic and programmable management of the lens position independently from the stand-off.
The compact footprint that the DOMINO offers was ideal for Arrow's needs, says Gosse.
"The DOMINO's footprint fit into the area where we wanted to put the laser system. It fit perfectly," according to Gosse.
The DOMINO's rotary axis also lent itself for Arrow's tube and pipe cutting work, he says. "We do a lot of tube and pipe cutting and we needed the rotary axis for that.
"Previously, all of our tube was cut on bandsaws and punched or drilled. However, we couldn't hold the tolerances and we were getting a lot of rejected parts.
"By doing the tube work on the laser, we are now getting virtually no rejects. The laser is also a lot faster," Gosse explains.
According to Gosse, the DOMINO laser system has provided a variety of benefits for Arrow. For one thing, it has enhanced the firm's flexibility significantly.
"The laser just offers us a lot more flexibility as a shop. Some jobs are meant for a laser, some jobs are meant for a punch, and some jobs can be done on either machine. Now, we have the choice of doing a job on whatever machine best suits it," he remarks.
Adds Gosse, "We also get into a lot of strange applications which was another reason why we bought the PRIMA DOMINO laser system because it gave us more flexibility than just a flat-sheet laser cutter.
"When I looked at the PLATINO (PRIMA's 2D laser cutting system) versus the five-axis DOMINO, I was looking at speed versus flexibility.
"With the five-axis machine, I can do everything that a two-axis laser can do plus I've got the flexibility of putting, for example, 8 in. x 8 in. angle on the machine for cutting," he says.
In addition, Gosse found that the DOMINO's large Z-axis height also provided benefits for Arrow.
"The large Z-axis allowed me to get different parts into the machine than I could on a two-axis laser cutting system."
According to Gosse, the laser is also enabling Arrow to do parts much more efficiently. For example, one part that Arrow manufactures is a stainless steel mounting bracket for electrical reactors.
"Previously, making the mounting bracket without the laser we would have to get the material sheared by an outside firm.
"We would then punch all the holes on an iron worker and then bend the part.
"Now, we just cut the part on the laser and bend it. It is much more efficient and rejects are now unheard of.
"We used to have approximately 10% rejects on this part before. Now, we have no rejects," he notes.
As well as significantly reducing rejects, the laser has also enabled Arrow to eliminate the shearing operation and bring that work back inhouse, he says, adding that has, in turn, improved lead times.
Installing the DOMINO has also had a positive impact on Arrow's ability to quote on new work, points out Gosse.
"The laser has definitely increased the number of different jobs that we can be competitive on," he notes.
According to Gosse, the laser has also had a positive impact on the firm's existing customers.
"Some of my customers, who now know that we have a laser, have been able to redesign some of their parts around the new machinery," he remarks.
Despite Arrow's lack of experience with laser cutting, training on the new system was relatively straightforward, says Gosse.
Operator training, he continues, on the DOMINO laser system also included a one-week course at PRIMA's headquarters in Chicopee, MA.
"It's not difficult grasping the overall concept of the machine. It takes time but the control package is very user-friendly," he states.
The DOMINO laser cutting system, Gosse says, is definitely meeting Arrow's expectations in terms of performance.
"What the laser has done for us is to provide better ways for making existing parts," he says.
prima-na.com