Industrial Laser Solutions Editorial Advisor Dr. Milton S. F. Lima reports from São Paulo, Brazil.
The International Machinery and Equipment Fair was held April 24-28, 2018, in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. This is the second edition of the fair, organized by the Brazilian Association of Machineries and Equipments Industry, and one of the largest fairs in the metalworking sector in Latin America. With 460 exhibitors, 60 hours of seminars, and workshops spread over a 56,000 m2 area, the biggest difficulty for the 60,000 visitors was finding time to see everything in one day.
Image credit: Pepe Guimarães (Primeira Pagina Assesoria de Comunicação e Eventos, under permission)
Exhibitors were surprised by the number of deals closed at the fair, as it is not common to place orders during the exhibition, but rather a posteriori. According to Francisco Nakazone, sales manager for Mazak Sulamericana, many unexpected businesses emerged at the fair. The Japanese company brought to the show a Nexus 3015 Fiber system for thin sheet cutting with a 2 kW resonator and a 1525 × 3050 mm work area. Nakazone said they already have three 8 kW fiber laser cutting machines installed in Brazil.
Trumpf, the leading laser solutions sales company in Brazil, brought the TruLaser 5030 for stainless steel cutting demonstrations up to 25 mm thick. The company owns 48% of the Brazilian market share for laser cutting systems and, for the first time, laser machine sales have exceeded mechanical processing machines (cutting, bending, punching, etc.). According to Diogo Corazza, application manager at Trumpf, expansion of the use of press-hardened steel has generated a demand in laser cutting of hardened materials for the automotive industry.
Another company, Laserline, just opened its Sao Paulo office, and is already receiving inquiries from the auto parts and mold industries for its new high-power semiconductor lasers. The German company has invested in improving optics and beam delivery systems to compete with active fiber-based systems.
IPG Photonics, which is very active in Brazil, presented its compact OEM systems for material processing. According to sales manager Matheus Ruocco, IPG Photonics is the choice of companies that prefer to integrate the laser into flexible manufacturing lines at a low cost. The company recently announced a job shop and space for training and tests in Sao Paulo with a 6 kW source and several marking and engraving machines.
Image credit: Pepe Guimarães (Primeira Pagina Assesoria de Comunicação e Eventos, under permission)
Trends in Industry 4.0, including interoperability, information flow, virtual technical assistance, and decentralized decisions, were debated during the fair and showed once again how lasers prove to be the ideal ecosystem for plant factory transition.
The fair left a craving for metal additive manufacturing, although this is not its focus. However, the Brazilian company ROMI announced the advent of its additive and subtractive DCM-5X hybrid manufacturing system, for the next edition of the fair (May 5-9, 2020).