Napoleon, OH - Automatic Feed Company (AFCO), a manufacturer with nearly 65 years of expertise focused mostly on blanking and cut-to-length lines, has formed a spin-off company, LaserCoil Technologies LLC. This spin-off is focused on providing metal fabricating solutions featuring advanced and patented technologies for laser cutting of blanks from coil in aluminum, mild steel, the new high-strength steels, and other materials for surface sensitive panels as well as structural components.
AFCO has developed the technology over the past five years, successfully running pilot programs and processing production blanks for automotive customers since 2012. LaserCoil Technologies LLC will lead this laser blanking business and continue to advance the technology for application to the automotive, aerospace, agriculture, appliance, and other industries worldwide.
"With the move toward more niche vehicles and new materials, there is a need for agility in the pressroom while still controlling costs and delivering high productivity," said AFCO’s president and CEO Kim Beck, "Our experience in the automotive industry has led us to develop laser cutting technologies that provide a new unique approach to blanking from continuous coil at impressive speeds."
The LaserCoil staff has organically grown out of AFCO and is headed by Kim Beck as LaserCoil president and Jay Finn as CTO.
(Photo courtesy of AFCO)