Christmas Came Early for Mercury Specialty Products

Just weeks before Christmas, two semi-trailers delivered the very best kind of gift for Mercury Specialty Products. “It felt like Christmas, or somebody’s birthday,” exclaimed Mike Lee, MSP President. “That’s how excited we were to unbox our new 40-foot long laser cutters.”

MSP purchased two LS7, 10 KW 2D laser cutting systems from BLM, who shipped them to Winnipeg all the way from Italy. Unwrapping this special present took some extra help. Several workers, using a Skyline crane and a combination of cutting tools, first unboxed the machine, then, using a combination of Hyster forklift and flatbed truck, hauled everything into place within the Red Fife plant.

“We bought two of them to provide redundancies,” explains Lee. “Our existing machine is going to be sold. The current machine is 4 KW, and the new machines are both 10 KW – that means we can work faster, with cleaner cutting lines, especially when it comes to thicker materials. These machines represent a significant investment towards improving capabilities and capacity.”

The LS7s work fairly independently, programmed by manufacturing engineers, and require only a single operator to run both machines. In fact, the equipment is capable of operating “lights out”, meaning it is fully automated or with very limited human interaction. Operators are trained by factory technicians. The parts produced are destined for use in agricultural, construction, and trailer manufacturing.

The LS7s have axis acceleration up to 2g, optimizing the processing cycles and minimizing wait times. It also offers burr-free cutting, meaning it will automatically adjust to the thickness of the material for a clean and precise cut — from stainless steel and mild steel to aluminum or copper. And, it’s all done with lower energy consumption.

With a pallet change rate of 9 seconds — extracting the parts and loading the new sheet metal — the LS7s are incredibly efficient. It’s all thanks to a fully electric process and a mechanical solution that anticipates the simultaneous exchange of the two tables. With the full electric pallet changer alone, it’s possible to increase productivity by up to 9% (on an average of 10 pallet changes per hour).

The care and maintenance for the LS7 here is minimal, so MSP’s down time is lower, which spells speedier delivery for clients. “The most difficult sort of job these machines have to do is to work with thicker materials, 1” and up, while maintaining edge quality,” says Lee. “We’re confident they’re up to the task. We’re looking forward to a happy New Year and to some happy clients who get to benefit from the performance and capabilities of our new laser cutters!”

MSP Welcomes Ukrainians to the Team

In 2022, Mercury Specialty Products (MSP) was approached by a recruiter from Myrowich Staffing Agency to see if we needed new employees as there was an influx of newly arrived Ukrainians to Manitoba. Many of these newcomers were seeking employment and came with great skills. Mercury happened to have several vacancies for welders, and we were eager to fill the positions as soon as possible.

The recruiter confirmed they had at least one suitable candidate that was available for an interview. However, when the recruiter arrived, he had not one but five Ukrainian candidates for the interview. Amazingly, all five candidates passed the skills assessments, and we were thrilled to offer jobs to all of them.

We still needed one more worker who could speak English fluently. It took a few days to vet candidates and have them take the skills assessment, and in the end, we were able to add two more Ukrainian candidates and one had great English language skills.

“Since joining our team, the Ukrainian employees have made a significant impact on Mercury’s operations and their skills and expertise have helped us grow our capacity,” said MSP President, Michael Lee. “It has truly been a win-win for all, and we were pleased to assist in a situation that was grim for these newcomers.”

Myrowich Staffing Agency is a Winnipeg-based that helps Ukrainian connect with local businesses. We are grateful that the company was able to make several successful placements that helped us prosper.

Interested in working for MSP? Check our careers page for current opportunities.

Exciting Expansion in 2022

MSP’s Red Fife Plant opened in 2022 at the Steele Business Park. Located in the heart of CentrePort Canada — North America’s largest tri-modal inland port — MSP is perfectly positioned to offer ready service and product delivery via rail, truck and air cargo to locations throughout the continent. The Red Fife Plant provides us with an additional 18,500 sq. ft. of manufacturing space, enabling us to expand our operations, housing advanced new laser tube cutting equipment within a state-of-the-art facility.

In addition to the LT8.20 3D tube laser cutter, our new Red Fife Plant houses the most powerful new tool in our arsenal, the LT360 3D laser cutter — a first-of-its-kind in North America!

The LT360 3D Fibre Laser Cutting Robot System offers the most complex geometries in any 3-dimensional piece within a single process. The LT360 offers exceptional freedom of movement and the ability to process curved, hydroformed, preformed or pre-welded tubes, as well as, flat and/or stamped sheets in mild steel, stainless steel, aluminum, titanium, copper, and brass.

Laser Cutting

The system includes a fixed worktable, equipped with an integrated laser slat, removable scrap collection tank and fume extraction connection. The part holder table includes magnetic supports, allowing for maximum freedom in positioning the workpiece during loading and unloading. It also has an innovative fixturing system that is quick and easy to set up and avoids the need to create dedicated tooling for each part.

The LT360 system is designed for any kind of innovative application — stop at nothing and cut any three-dimensional metal profile you can imagine. Our clients will really appreciate not only the power of the LT360, but also the functionality. This first-class system allows us to eliminate secondary cutting, drilling, punching, milling, and deburring operations and delivers a low cost per part, super-fast programming, ease of use, and unlimited feasibility.

Learn more about our laser tube cutting capabilities.