Laser Marking Components:
Engine Specialist 'Van der Graaf'

Galvo laser systems from Trotec Laser are used in many different industrial companies globally. Mechanical engineering and drive technology is a very large sector in this regard, and lasers are ideal for flexible component and nameplate marking. Engine specialist Van der Graaf uses Trotec SpeedMarker machines for this purpose, and they appreciate the flexible nature of these machines for their proprietary manufacturing processes. 

Based in Canada, the Van der Graaf company is a leading international manufacturer of drum motors. Most of Van der Graaf's customers are manufacturers of transport and conveyor systems, which are used internationally for a variety of purposes, in a wide range of conditions. The applications range for conveyor belts goes from industrial manufacturing to baggage handling systems at airports to conveyor technology for parcel sorting systems. The reliable core of these systems consists of the completely enclosed drum motors. At the company's Canadian location Brampton, Ontario, a SpeedMarker 700 is used to mark the nameplates and components of these engines. 

To be able to flexibly mark these parts, the Trotec Galvo laser machine has been adapted several times at Van der Graaf. Firstly, several workpiece carriers were created, and these can be changed quickly to accommodate a wide variety of parts and nameplates. Completing a changeover on this laser machine takes you hardly any time at all. Corresponding templates were created in the laser software for every one of the workpiece carriers and types of components / nameplates. These can also be called up manually or automatically via your production order. The workpiece carriers don't actually all need to be filled – any number of parts are able to be marked. 

By connecting the Trotec SpeedMark laser software to the ERP systems, the machine operator can scan the barcode on the production order using a hand-held scanner. Then, the laser software will be provided with the information on the part type and marking content. This includes part numbers, serial numbers, quantities and more. The information about the respective placement of the component's marking and the workpiece carrier is stored in the laser software. The laser user simply needs to carry out the appropriate loading, scan the order and begin the marking process.

Every company has a different approach to obtaining the optimal operation of their machine. So, we’ve ensured that the HMI (human machine interface) on the Trotec laser marking machines can easily be adapted according to personal preferences. This will help provide a suitable and perfect graphical user interface, in addition to the standard software. If special individual parts need to be marked, or new workpiece carriers need to be set up, the standard SpeedMark interface can always be altered at any time.