subject: A Story How To Rebound From A Devastating Fire In A Laser Fabrication Protype Shop [print this page] It's a story that has been played out thousands of times all over the U.S., the startup of the 'garage' shop for metalworking or fabricating. A person who strikes out on his own, plunking down life savings for a few machines and, with the trust of one or two customers, giving it a go.
That's the story of Accu-Rite Industries, Inc. (Shelby Twp., MI) founded by Kirko Mickovski, at the time a machine operator earning, as he puts it, "dollars less than the going hourly rate at the time."
It was frustrating, putting forth the effort for someone else with what seemed like little appreciation and even less compensation. Still Mr. Mickovski took the big step one day, started the business, and with the help of his partner, John Loudon, built the company into a solid prototype firm specializing in heavy duty stamping and sheet metal fabricating.
With Accu-Rite, Mr. Mickovski and Mr. Loudon achieved the dream of thousands; successfully operating their own business with steady growth over the years and a broadening customer base spanning across the automotive, small appliance and furniture industries. They had it all going for them until the need for expansion brought catastrophic results.
The company was having some work done, upgrading and rewiring electrical circuits from 240 volts to 480 volts. One night, there was a fire that destroyed the entire shop, including all of the fabricating equipment. Insurance would cover the monetary losses, but it seemed an insurmountable task for the company to resume a level of operations within any reasonable time frame that would keep their customers' projects on time.
The insurance firms were taking their time, conducting investigations and ascertaining values. In the meantime, immediate action was necessary. The company moved, developing their own funding to start back up, converting a building used for storage into a temporary production facility. They also 'leaned' on one of their long time laser manufacturers to find some lasers fast. Needless to say, they were pleased, as they had two lasers up and running within a week to 10 days, and a third unit was running within one month of the fire.
Those lasers, along with an assortment of die making equipment, presses and CMM inspection systems kept the company going while a comprehensive rebuilding plan was finalized and settlements were reached. After just nine months following the fire, the Accu-Rite facility had been rebuilt and capabilities were back to and even surpassed the pre-fire level.
The lasers referred to include two TLV model CO2 3-axis systems. The TLV laser is available with four power options up to 6 kW. A rapid feed rate of up to 30,000 mm (1,181") per minute means less time cutting air and more time cutting parts. Cutting speeds of up to 20,000 mm (787") per minute are possible. The various models provide work envelopes from 51" by 49" up to 246" by 86". The TLV systems also feature drives consisting of AC servo motors, plus ball screw and linear ball guide mechanisms that translates into a positioning accuracy as close as +0.02 mm over 300 mm of travel (+0.0008" per 12" of movement).
The company utilizes a variety of lasers, a handful of which feature full 5-axis movement, providing accurate cutting in three dimensions. These 5-axis lasers utilize a Windows(R) operating system with a multitude of built-in functions and calculations. Also included are interactive guidelines that eliminate the complexities of generating correct beam paths. The control fully monitors both machine movement and laser operational parameters for precise cuts and sharp edge results.
The performance of the lasers is impressive to Mr.'s Mickovski and Loudon, but even more impressive was the laser manufacturer's response during the prototype shop's time of need. "They jumped through hoops to get those first lasers to us," Mickovski remarks. "There's no doubt in my mind that our company would have had a mighty big struggle without that effort."
