On April 10th, the "No More Thick Plates in the World" 60,000W Laser Cutting Machine Launch Event, hosted by Bontec Laser Group, was held grandly at the China International Machine Tool Exhibition in Beijing. At the event, Wan Chixiong, Executive Deputy General Manager of VekoNet Laser and Bontec Laser Technology (Shandong) Co., Ltd., had an in-depth discussion on the significance and advantages of the 60,000 watts.

VekoNet Laser: Recently, Bontec Laser made a stunning release of the 60,000W cutting machine in Shenzhen. Why are they once again releasing the 60,000W cutting machine in the northern region?

Wan Chixiong: The application areas in the southern and northern markets differ significantly. The southern market mainly focuses on stainless steel, while the northern region is a traditional heavy industry manufacturing base with many enterprises involved in engineering machinery, shipbuilding, pressure vessels, mining equipment, and more, which have a higher demand for carbon steel plates. In particular, users in industries such as mining equipment have a significant demand for power ranges between 40,000W and 60,000W, which is relatively less common in the southern region. Therefore, we chose to release the 60,000W cutting machine in the northern region once again, both to tap into this customer segment and to further promote the Bontec Laser brand in the northern market.

In fact, since entering the engineering machinery industry in 2019, we have already established partnerships with top companies such as Sany, Zoomlion, and XCMG. Currently, we are continuously expanding the application of laser technology, from traditional sheet metal fabrication to engineering machinery, steel structures, shipbuilding, high-speed rail, and even supporting businesses in the aerospace industry. It can be said that we have ventured into cutting, welding, and even more advanced intelligent production lines.

VekoNet Laser: Prior to the introduction of kilowatt laser cutting, heavy industry markets typically used plasma or flame for material cutting. How much help did 20,000W and 30,000W provide to these heavy industry enterprises? What changes can the 60,000W bring to users?

Wan Chixiong: In the past, plasma or flame cutting was more commonly used in rough material cutting markets. Flame cutting mainly focused on processing plates above 40mm, while plasma cutting focused on plates below 35mm. Both cutting methods had disadvantages such as high usage and maintenance costs, slow processing speeds, and serious environmental pollution, contradicting the current national emphasis on "dual carbon." However, with the advent of high-power lasers, they have largely replaced plasma and flame cutting methods.

Before the launch of the 60,000W product, the previous 20,000W and 30,000W, including the earlier 12,000W equipment, only partially replaced plasma cutting but could not replace flame cutting due to insufficient power. With the introduction of the 60,000W laser cutting equipment, medium-thick plates are redefined. Previously, 20mm and 30mm carbon steel were considered difficult-to-process thick plates. But now, we redefine 30mm thick plates as thin plates because the 60,000W laser can cut 30mm carbon steel at a speed of 5m/min, which is much faster than plasma and flame cutting. Moreover, the 60,000W cutting machine's maximum thickness has exceeded 300mm, surpassing flame cutting, enabling it to fully replace plasma and flame cutting.

There is also a more intuitive feeling. Traditional heavy industry enterprises, for example, to meet the processing volume of 20,000 tons per year, would require 4 units of 12,000W equipment, corresponding to 16 workers. The management and maintenance costs would increase proportionally. However, after the introduction of the 60,000W cutting machine, one unit of equipment is sufficient to meet the customer's annual demand of 20,000 tons, and only 3 workers are needed for maintenance. This reduces management costs while significantly improving production efficiency.

For sheet metal processing users, with the support of the faster cutting speed of the 60,000W laser, they will have a stronger advantage compared to their peers, allowing them to have greater control over pricing in the market. For example, the processing fee that used to be 30,000W could be reduced to as low as 300 RMB per ton, whereas with the 60,000W, it can be reduced to 150 RMB per ton, leaving room for profit, thus dealing a blow to their competitors.

VekoNet Laser: The laser cutting market in the northern region is highly competitive, and Shandong has been a strategic location where many companies have been actively expanding in recent years. What is the strategic positioning of Bontec Laser's Shandong company within the group? Will it face problems with an incomplete supply chain?

Wan Chixiong: Penta Laser's Shandong company was established and settled in Linyi in 2019, and now it has been 4 years. We have always adhered to the principle of being a laser application expert to create value for customers and develop the market.

In terms of the group's positioning, the Shandong company is an important research and development base and production base. It is also an important showcase for us in the northern market. So far, the R&D team of Penta Shandong has more than 50 members, and we invest around 5.3% of our sales revenue in research and development each year. We have made substantial investments in R&D. On the other hand, as an important manufacturing base, besides meeting the needs of customers in the northern market, our products also radiate to East China, Central China, and even overseas markets.

Supply chain integration is indeed a challenge we are currently facing. We also hope to achieve localization of suppliers, which can save our logistics and procurement costs. However, the existing local suppliers do not fully meet our strict quality standards for machining accuracy, including welds and sheet metal painting. After comprehensive comparison, in order to ensure product quality, we still choose our previous suppliers. Of course, we are also exporting our standards to local suppliers and believe that there will be a day when the supply chain can be localized.

VekoNet Laser: In recent years, Penta Laser has made outstanding contributions to the development of the laser industry in areas such as high-power laser cutting machines and flat bevel laser cutting machines. What are Penta's future plans? How will it further support downstream industries?

Wan Chixiong: On one hand, Penta Laser will continue to firmly follow the high-end route of laser cutting and become a leader in laser solutions covering high-power cutting and welding. On the other hand, we acquired Jinbofang last year, officially entering the new energy lithium battery market, which will fill the gap in our company's application of new energy lasers. In the future, we will continue to focus on research and development, expand intelligent manufacturing lines, make our machines more intelligent and digitalized, and enrich our product line to gain more competitive advantage in the market.

In the future, we will continue to increase research and development investment and enhance the digitalization of our company to improve production efficiency and reduce various research and development costs, including manufacturing costs. This will enable us to provide more competitive products to end users. Furthermore, we will actively delve into various industries, conduct product research and development based on the actual needs of end industries, and develop equipment that better matches each industry. This will truly enhance the production efficiency and reduce management costs for our customers, making them more competitive in their respective industries. In other words, we are not only committed to making our products more competitive, but also to enhancing the competitiveness of our customers by improving ourselves.