In survey after survey, businesses say the same thing: They have jobs and want to hire people but cannot find workers. Roughly a third say the problem is so bad they are turning down business. Fixing the so-called skills gap and labor shortage is not going to be easy. It is going to take time, effort, and innovation. In the meantime, companies are doing what they can to lessen their reliance on people. This includes making sure that tools and products are easy to use.
All Hypertherm plasma systems are designed with ease of use in mind. The newest generation of Hypertherm Powermax® systems—Powermax SYNC®—automatically sets the correct amperage, air pressure, and operating mode. In addition, these systems replace the traditional five-piece consumable stack-up with a single-piece cartridge that takes just seconds to install and has an end-of-life detection feature to let you know when your cartridge is completely used up.
Making things even easier, the cartridges are color-coded: yellow for hand cutting, gray for mechanized cutting, green for gouging, and black for specialty applications such as flush cutting. Another advantage is the Powermax SYNC cartridge lasts up to five times as long as a traditional stack-up. All these features help to reduce training time, errors and improve cut quality.
An additional benefit of the Powermax SYNC system is its ability to record usage data and transmit it using a simple RFID reader. It will track things like number of starts and arc-on time, helping you identify patterns and make your operation more efficient.
And here are some other considerations regarding plasma technology:
If you are looking for versatility, Powermax plasma cutters cut through a variety of metals of different thicknesses and types. This makes them the perfect solution for a wide range of applications, which means you won’t need operators that specialize in varied materials.
| Metal removal processes are quite common for many operations and typically grinding is the method most used. In many cases, plasma gouging offers a faster, safer, and much more efficient alternative. Powermax SYNC has cartridges designed specifically for max removal gouging making this a great alternative to grinding. For example, a customer was able to gouge more than 200 pieces of pipe in 4 days compared to 1 pipe in 3 days with the mechanical grinder. |
Plasma cutting is safer than oxyfuel cutting because there is no open flame. This can make it easier to find operators who may not want to work with more hazardous equipment.
The Powermax SYNC system provides several time saving solutions to help address the skilled labor shortage: Time saved training new operators, time saved ordering and managing parts, and time saved searching for and changing consumables. In a world where experienced, trained, laborers are scarce, Powermax SYNC can give you a big advantage.
