The Belgian metal supplier decided to bring special cutting jobs in house with the help of MicroStep’s MG machine. The three cutting heads allow cutting of curved and beveled parts with plasma and oxyfuel and the 12 meter long table can accommodate any request their customers have. “We are now definitely stronger as a supplier,” is the bottom line.February 23, 2023
Metal dealer Leo Vervisch from Kerkhove in West Flanders was founded in 1982 by the man who gave the company his name and his wife Mireille. Staring out as dealers in scrap metal they used their success to grow and expand the company to what it is today: a reliable supplier of builders large and small, from big companies to private individuals. The family enterprise, now led by the second generation, does not only sell materials for metal constructions but also processes it to fit their customers’ needs.
Isabelle and Dieter Vervisch have taken over as managing directors after their parents, founders of the company
In house for better flexibility
“Until recently, this mainly involved sawing, drilling and welding. Responding to the increasing demand for ‘out-of-format’ cutting with all kinds of curves, we have now expanded our machine park with a CNC-controlled cutting machine. Previously, we did these operations manually or we had to use subcontractors. However, the increasing waiting times for quotations, production and delivery led us to the decision to do this in house, in order to further improve the services for customers and our own flexibility. After all, we can now determine our own priorities, instead of depending on third parties,” begins Dieter Vervisch, the founders’ son and one of the two managing directors.
The machine in question is the MicroStep MG 12001.25 PrkGbG, with a cutting table of 2.5 by 12 meters and three cutting heads: one with plasma and two with oxyfuel technology.
The 12 m long and 2.5 m wide machine is equipped with a plasma rotator, an oxyfuel rotator and a straight oxyfuel cutting head
“We often have to deal with large formats and different thicknesses of various metals. The combination of the different cutting technologies allows us to choose the best technology on one machine, according to the plate thickness. We can pierce with plasma up to 50 mm, above that oxy-fuel is the appropriate technology. Plasma can be used for all ferrous materials, even stainless steel up to 120 mm thick. With the plasma head we can cut at an angle of up to 50 degrees and one of the two oxy-fuel heads can also be tilted, up to 60 degrees. The third head is straight and allows us to process plates up to 250 mm”, explains Isabelle Vervisch, Dieter’s sister and co-director.
“What’s more, we can use these heads in combination, for example use the plasma head to apply markings and the oxy-fuel head to cut. Or we can use both oxy-fuel heads in parallel, for maximum efficiency.”
Dieter Vervish (right) with Gert Van Wambeke, machine operator, in front of their new MG machine
Turnkey solution
The machine was supplied through Wouters Cutting & Welding, MicroStep’s valuable partner in Benelux. Together they settled on the versatile top performer MG equipped with technologies able to cover all of their cutting needs. The managing directors ended up pleased with the process as well as the end result: “They delivered a turnkey project, from drawings to a working machine”, they say. “Previously, our own options were limited to straightforward cutting. Thanks to the new cutting machine, we can now offer our customers more and in a shorter term. This allowed us to improve our service as we intended and we are now definitely stronger as a supplier,” conclude the business managers.
“Thanks to the new cutting machine, we can now offer our customers more and in a shorter term. This allowed us to improve our service as we intended and we are now definitely stronger as a supplier.”
