When Vision Quest, a local lighting manufacturer, began to struggle with their production process they turned to Federal Equipment. Ron Shuster, the President of Federal Equipment joined Mazak Optonics Corp. to work in conjunction with The Profit. They paired Vision Quest with the best machinery to streamline production and increase profitability.
The Profit and Mazak Optonics bring new life to Vision Quest Lighting.
Vision Quest Lighting, a custom lighting manufacturer located in Ronkonkoma, New York, has created lighting for names like Hollister, Chanel, and Universal Studios.
Vision Quest Lighting started having a fall in sales which lead its owner, Larry Lieberman, to dip into his daughter’s college savings to keep the business running. Luckily, Lieberman was able to connect with Marcus Lemonis from CNBC’s The Profit. Lemonis acquired 50 percent of Vision Quest Lighting and helped Lieberman get on the right track with his company.
One of the first steps Lieberman needed to take was updating their current manufacturing equipment. They were using a 25-year-old water jet along with a turret punch. Shuster and Mazak Optonics helped get Lieberman on the right path by looking at quality laser-cutting machines.
Vision Quest Lighting’s team never ran a laser before, so they needed something that was quick and easy to learn but still within their budget. The OPTIPLEX NEXUS 3015 was just the solution they needed. The OPTIPLEX NEXUS 3015 is an entry-level price point machine but has the Intelligent Functions that allows the operator to take a step back and allow the machine do the setup and monitoring.
All of Mazak Optonics Corp.’s flat laser machines have the Intelligent Functions standard on the machines. The Intelligent Functions have two parts, the Intelligent Setup Functions and the Intelligent Monitoring Functions. The OPTIPLEX NEXUS 3015 Intelligent Setup Functions include automated nozzle changing, automated nozzle cleaning, automated focus positioning, automated profiler calibration, and focus detection. The OPTIPLEX NEXUS 3015 also has the Intelligent Monitoring Functions which include pierce detection, plasma detection, burn detection and lens monitoring. The Intelligent Functions allow the machine to do more on its own and rely less on the operator.
Vision Quest Lighting has an increase in throughput due to introducing the OPTIPLEX NEXUS 3015. The laser cuts higher quality parts which allowed them to reduce their secondary process. They now have more room for creativity because of increased quality and elimination of post-processing parts. The NEXUS helped streamline operations at Vision Quest. Today, Vision Quest is well organized and better equipped to handle the quick turnover rates that its customers demand.
You can find the full article on Vision Quest Lighting in the Shop Floor Lasers magazine pages 17-23.
About Mazak Optonics Corporation
Mazak Optonics Corporation is a major supplier of laser-cutting systems, offering 50 laser models and leading the industry in the implementation of emerging laser technologies. The company’s 50,000 sq. ft. North American Headquarters are located in Elgin, Illinois, and feature a 30,000 sq. ft. laser technology center housing up to 18 machines for demonstrations and training. Mazak Optonics is part of Yamazaki Mazak Corporation (Oguchi, Japan), the global leader for the manufacture of machine tools and systems for the precision machining of metal parts, including CNC turning centers, horizontal and vertical machining centers, Multi-Tasking machining centers, turnkey cells and software solutions. The North American Headquarters for Yamazaki Mazak are located in Florence, Kentucky. For more information on Mazak Optonics’ products and solutions, visit www.mazakoptonics.com, email sales@mazaklaser.com or call 847.252.4500.