Prima Industrie beat off stiff competition from other leading machine tool manufacturers to win the Best Metal Forming / Fabrication Machine category in this year's Metalworking Production awards.

Prima Industrie beat off stiff competition from several other leading machine tool manufacturers to win the Best metal forming / Fabrication Machine category in this year's Metalworking Production awards, held at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole Hotel on 16th May. The company's new Syncrono machine - exhibited for the first time in the UK on Prima's stand at the MACH '06 show - won the judge's decision on the strength of its innovative design, which dramatically reduces cycle times and piece part production costs. Claimed to be the world's fastest 2D laser cutting machine, the Syncrono achieves a maximum head acceleration of more than 6g, twice that of previous benchmark machines, enabling it to produce over 1000 holes per minute in light gauge sheet metal applications.

Its ability to double the performance of other high speed laser machines is due to a number of key design features.

In effect, the new model is two machines in one - a larger unit with a 3000 x 1500 mm processing area, combined with a compact, short stroke, high dynamic head.

Both elements move independently, but are fully synchronised using patented control algorithms - allowing the machine to achieve extremely high cutting rates throughout a large machining envelope.

The parallel kinematics of the Syncrono's head and main carriage are optimised for minimum cycle times, with the required cutting trajectory generated automatically from standard machine G-code, without the need for any operator intervention.

Through increasing productivity by as much as 50% on components up to 3 mm thick, the Syncrono challenges the speeds of many CNC punch presses, while eliminating the need for costly tooling, cutter refurbishment, setting-up and change-over times.

The new machine's dynamically-balanced, low mass head incorporates advanced control features to eliminate vibration and maximise both machining accuracy and repeatability.

The Syncrono also utilises a high performance Prima CP4000 laser unit and is equipped with interchangeable optics to accommodate materials up to 20 mm thick.

Further features include simple installation and commissioning, constant laser beam length over the complete machining area, fibre-optic linked digital servo drives and intuitive operation using the system's 15 inch flat touch screen interface.

Prima's Syncrono is available with optional laser piercing monitoring for optimising the processing of heavy gauge materials, and a number of automatic work handling solutions for maximising production throughput.