A new technology from a local company may sound like it was ripped directly off the pages of a science-fiction novel, but it’s changing the way real-life job shops are able to work with and transform metal.
This week nLIGHT, a laser company headquartered in Vancouver, announced the introduction of Corona fiber lasers. The lasers boast “tunable beam properties,” a company press release stated, allowing more flexibility in the materials and processes used to shape metal.
“Corona fiber lasers will expand the range of metal thicknesses that job shops can cut with a single machine, eliminating compromises they make today,” said Jake Bell, general manager for nLIGHT’s Industrial Lasers, in the press release.
“Legacy laser technology forces manufacturers to restrict their production to a limited thickness range, to purchase multiple tools for different thicknesses, or to employ expensive free-space optics to laser cut a range of materials.”
nLIGHT created Corona with the intention of eliminating the need for multiple machines for different types of jobs. With one Corona laser, the company’s website states, users can select anything from a high-intensity, small-spot-size beams to a large, doughnut-shaped beam.
Traditionally, users would have to switch between a high-power fiber laser for thin metal processing and CO2 lasers for thick metal processing. A single Corona fiber laser can handle both.
Company spokeswoman Melissa Taylor told The Columbian on Wednesday that Corona has the potential to reverberate throughout the industry as part of the “fourth industrial revolution” that’s changing the way goods are manufactured with high-tech breakthroughs.
Smaller job shops won’t have to specialize anymore, she said.
“Right now, you have to choose — I’m going to buy one machine, and I’m a thick (metal) cutting guy,” Taylor said. “Now you don’t have to make that choice, and so you can expand your offering, if you want.”
Fiber lasers are more stable and operate on a more continuous wave of energy than other types, like diode lasers, Taylor said. Their precision changes not only how things can be made, but what can be made, she added.
For example, a jet engine part that can be shaped from a single continuous piece of metal is going to be stronger, lighter and overall more effective.
“It allows a piece to be made that’s literally one thing, as opposed to five things cut and welded into one,” Taylor explained.
On Tuesday, the company also announced the launch of a proposed follow-on public offering of 4,500,000 shares of its common stock, including 3,654,763 shares to be offered by certain selling stockholders and 845,237 shares to be offered by nLIGHT. The company won’t receive any proceeds from the shares sold by stockholders. nLIGHT plans to grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 675,000 shares of its common stock.
Revenue from the offering will be allocated to the company’s capital expenditures and other general corporate costs, nLIGHT announced.
Located at 5408 N.E. 88th St. in Vancouver, the company was founded in 2000 by Scott Keeney. It also has locations in Hillsboro, Ore., as well as abroad in Shanghai, China, and Lohja, Finland.
nLIGHT plans to publicly debut its new technology in October at EuroBLECH 2018, a sheet-metal-working conference in Hanover, Germany. While the technology isn’t yet on the market, interested manufacturers are invited to reach out to the company’s sales team, Taylor said.
nLIGHT stock, which trades on NASDAQ under the symbol LASR, closed at $28.15 a share Wednesday.
Calley Hair: 360-735-4558; calley.hair@columbian.com. Twitter: twitter.com/calleynhair
