Innovative machine leads local company into the future

An innovative piece of equipment at Labconco Corporation is helping lead the company into the future.

A few months ago, the local manufacturer unveiled the newest addition to its plant, located at 2500 Liberty Bell Road. The Mazak Super Turbo-X Mark III, which cost the company about $1 million, is a 2,500-watt machine featuring a laser for cutting sheets of steel. The machine, which replaced an older piece of equipment, is designed to make operations more efficient and significantly reduce the amount of scrap metal produced at the plant, according to plant manager Mike Lakeman.

"It's more efficient and will minimize scrap," Lakeman said. "This is a capital investment for the next 10 years ... we had some capacity issues. This will increase metal fabrication, and it's a more accurate, more clean cut."

Lakeman said a big benefit of the machine is that it will allow for increased production using the same number of employees who currently work in the plant; the company has not had to add or reduce staff due to the addition of the machine. The laser will also cut 18,000 pounds of steel in a 24-hour shift as opposed to the 3-day period it previously took to do the same amount of work.

The laser cuts steel that is up to 3/4-inch thick at a rate of 250-300 inches per minute. A tower inside the machine can hold 66,000 pounds of steel.

After engineers program instructions and data into the machine's computer system, the machine will run continuously without constant supervision and operate until all of the programs are completed and no more parts are needed. The machine is also capable of shutting itself down in an emergency, Lakeman said.

The machine has an intelligent monitoring system which is comprised of three components: an intelligent piercing sensor, an intelligent plasma sensor and an intelligent burning sensor.

The company was founded in 1925 as Laboratory Construction Company and in 1957, its name was changed to Labconco. In 1988, the company purchased a 50,000-square-foot building in Fort Scott. The current facility expanded by adding an additional 30,000-square-feet in 1995.

Today, the company employs more than 250 people in two locations and manufactures 16 different lines of laboratory equipment that are sold and used locally, as well as throughout the United States and the world. The company's products include fume hoods, laboratory cabinets, carts and stands, desiccators, blowers, and new forensic cabinets.