We are now in the second month of a new publishing year and many of us are glad 2021 is a thing of the past. Last year’s editorial contributions to this section in Laser Focus World were superb. Thanks to all the authors for delivering timely, interesting technical information that allowed Industrial Laser Solutions to maintain its 35-year reputation as a leader in presenting laser materials processing technology to the global manufacturing sector.
Then, the not-so-good—the impact of the pandemic on all aspects of global manufacturing. One major revelation about the ongoing impact of COVID-19 is that I’ve learned about all I want to know about supply chain problems. On the bright side, a new group of contributors promise a host of fresh ideas to carry industrial laser material processing technology to new highs.
The February issue of Industrial Laser Solutions (now a channel in Laser Focus World) is an example, as Björn Wedel and Sebastian Eilzer (PT Photonic Tools) posit the requirements for precision and security are substantially higher due to the high beam quality and energy density when guiding ultrafast laser sources that require special solutions when switching securely between different beam delivery paths (see article). We are going to present a lot on ultrashort-pulse (USP) laser processing this year, as this technology promises a more substantive share of market revenues.
Published in the March issue, Mark Boyle and Brennan DeCesar (Amada Weld Tech) describe the key medical applications for laser marking, welding, tube cutting, and micromachining, including some for USP and fiber lasers (see article). A big plus—they specify the optimal laser source for particular applications.
Also next month, we’ll look at a possible technology boost for revenue growth, beam shaping—this time in scanner-based applications at Blackbird Robotersysteme (see article).
