Company at a Glance
LOCATION: Nashua, NH
FOUNDED: 1987
WAZER customer since: 2019
Resonetics is a pioneer in micro manufacturing and provides contract services to the life sciences industry. The company specializes in laser workstations to solve complex manufacturing challenges.
The WAZER is a small-footprint, industrial-caliber cost saver. See how a major medical manufacturing company enjoyed an exceptional ROI, paying for their WAZER in less than 3 months.
About Resonetics
Resonetics is a global leader in micro-manufacturing for the life sciences field with a focus on producing components and assemblies for medical device and diagnostics manufacturers. Located in Nashua, NH, the company prides itself on exceptional customer service, and an agile work environment founded on innovation and quality.
We spoke with Austin Dando, a Senior Manufacturing Engineer at the company.
Challenge: Controlling an Existing Laser Infrastructure
Resonetics boasts more than a dozen high-powered laser cutting machines to handle their manufacturing needs. These lasers require dozens of tooling pieces, each precision cut from 3/16” aluminum or 16ga stainless steel.
A large facility update required a significant number of new tooling pieces, so Resonetics was faced with a daunting challenge: Wait 16-24 weeks, and pay an outside supplier for the 60-75 tooling items.
Solution: In House Tooling With WAZER
To find a solution, Austin ran the numbers. By purchasing the WAZER and using it in-house, the turnaround time dropped from 16 weeks to several days, while the cost per piece plummeted by 82% including materials. Austin was enthusiastic when he stated “it paid itself off in 3 months!”.
The WAZER waterjet is a “cold process”; there is no heat affected zone surrounding the cutting area, so the cut pieces remain flat with no edge hardening or distortion, while reducing tool wear for subsequent mechanical processes-which was critical to their application.
Plus, the WAZER easily met their standard .1mm to .2mm (.003” to .005”) tolerances, and consistently produced quality results in a timely fashion.
Speed and Flexibility Gains
The WAZER has also helped Resonetics speed their process versus conventional milling operations. For example, there was a 2-piece sensor bracket, approx. ¾” x 4” with 2 slots mated to a 2” x 3” piece with outfitted 19 holes. In a side-by-side comparison, the WAZER completed the entire task before the conventional mill completed the first piece, because the WAZER requires significantly less setup time and fixturing, delivering a rapid design-to-part life cycle.
The WAZER has also shown its value by quickly and easily cutting silicone gaskets, producing a far superior edge to that of the laser.
Conclusion
In addition to a 3 month ROI, and helping speed time-to-market, Austin felt the machine was “unexpectedly robust,” and the “outstanding level and quality of support is unheard of these days.” Among a team of advanced users of high end laser equipment at Resonetics, the WAZER was able to hold its own and carve out an important niche within the company, creating vital tooling to support their production needs. We would like to thank Resonetics and Austin Dando for sharing their time and perspective on the company’s unique production challenges.
