The longer term challenges facing the automobile industry are as complex as they are interrelated: Design cars that people want. Increase customer satisfaction. Reduce capital costs. Improve passenger safety. Increase fuel efficiency.

An ongoing trend emerging in the metal composition used in the safety cage of newer vehicle designs is providing major, yet somewhat hidden momentum for this reinvention of the automobile. That is, the increasing use of lightweight, higher strength steels that reduce the overall cost and weight of the vehicle while achieving the previously unattainable dichotomy of improving both passenger safety and fuel economy.

One major problem solved one far lesser problem created. Once the parts are press hardened during the hot stamping machine process they are too hard to be trimmed using traditional steel trimming dies. The process of trimming the edges and cutting of features (holes) in hot stamped parts must be done with a laser. This may require the purchase of additional capital equipment beyond the hot stamping presses for companies embracing the technology.

Despite the dedicated equipment required, laser cutting is a noncontact process, so the laser equipment does not wear and no trim presses or trim dies are required. The laser cutting process is highly precise, and trim lines and feature sizes and locations can be easily adjusted to handle a wide variety of parts.

The hot automatic stamping machine dies are designed to develop as much of the trim as possible in the stamp, but the area of stamped parts a moderate distance from the edge are slightly stronger. This requires more edge to be trimmed from some peripheral areas of parts that require higher tolerances. On these parts more of the edge is trimmed to extend the stronger area closer to the edge. Because the trim areas vary widely from part to part, the advanced programming and precise path repeatability of the robotic laser are especially valuable.

Companies that enter the hot stamping business have two basic choices when it comes to laser equipment: five-axis laser cutting machinery or six-axis robotic laser technology. While the performance of each option is comparable, there are some definite differences.

The five-axis laminating machine is typically regarded as more accurate, but the robot matches it in path repeatability. In the final analysis, the relative performances are very close and the aesthetic and functional quality of the finished parts is nearly identical.