What Are The Advantages Of Industrial Lasers on The Small But Beautiful Chilean Market？

According to a preliminary estimate previously released by market research firm Optech Consulting, the global industrial laser systems market reached $22 billion in 2022, almost the same as the previous year's market size ($21.3 billion). Of this market, the most critical industrial laser market size of $5.3 billion.
Optech Consulting analysis says that behind this current situation is a reflection of the strong growth of the Americas market and the decline of the Chinese market demand. Today, we will analyze Chile, a country located in South America, which is experiencing growing demand for industrial lasers due to its well-developed manufacturing and mining development.
Laser equipment investments are proliferating
Plagued by the new crown epidemic on the one hand, and hit hard by inflation (12% since 2022) and devaluation of the local currency (30%) on the other, Chile is facing a complex and uncertain environment. In addition, the text of its new constitution is not expected to be approved until November 2023, and this uncertainty could lead to idle foreign investment projects.
In this environment, Chile's industrial laser market is still showing signs of vitality, and local small and medium-sized companies are investing considerably in new laser equipment. For example, small dental companies such as DTI Dental and Beraudent have purchased small 100 W laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) machines from Concept Laser (now acquired by GE), the German leader in laser melting technology, for the treatment of dental restorative components, mainly in cobalt-chromium (CrCo) metal - such as crowns and bridges. -such as crowns and bridges.
Two other selective laser melting machines have also been delivered: a 400 W laser system from Renishaw, installed at the LEiTAT research center in Catalonia, Spain, and a MLab 200R laser-selective melting and forming machine from Concept Laser, equipped with a 200 W fiber laser drive unit, installed at the Department of Mechanics and Metallurgy at the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico (PUC). Metallurgy Department of the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico (PUC).
More notably, Power Train Technologies (PTT), a company dedicated to the remanufacturing of heavy metal components, also recently purchased a laser melting system for the remanufacturing and processing of diesel engine and truck components dedicated to mining. It consists of a 4kW continuous wave (CW) Laserline red diode laser and cladding head, a GTV powder feed system, a KUKA robot arm (3 mts span) and a 7 m long CNC lathe. The integration of the system is done locally and the main application will be the recovery of cast steel engine blocks and other mining components by cladding iron-chromium (Fe-Cr) and nickel (Ni) alloys, followed by precision machining. Their powder supplier is Hoganas from Sweden.
Mariano Schroeder, PTT director and CEO, said, "Laser metal deposition opens up a huge space of opportunity for a circular, regenerative economy with a reduced carbon footprint, especially in the mining industry."
The laser laboratory at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (PUC), the only university in Chile that has been training laser industry technology for nearly 30 years, has also purchased and installed three new laser units: a 3kW continuous wave fiber laser, a quasi-continuous wave 150/1500W fiber laser (both from China's Chuangxin Laser/MaxPhotonics), and a nanosecond pulsed fiber laser (from Sintec, Singapore). The group also worked on developing a polar laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) cell using a 300W continuous wave IPG fiber laser and a Galvo scanner head from Sintec. The latter system has achieved some important performance breakthrough points, for example, the processing of 60 μm layer-thick objects. However, thermal management and interlayer separation can also occur after processing by it.
A number of high-power CO2 and fiber lasers have also quietly entered the Chilean sheet metal cutting market: LEMACO, established more than 20 years ago, has three Bystronic laser cutting machines, while DiFierro has a 3.2 kW through-fast CO2 laser unit. In Santiago, Chile's capital and largest city, there are at least 10 other companies with in-house laser metal cutting machines that either use them for external production and processing services or for in-house production, including Pardo, Oppici, Teknip, MAD They include Pardo, Oppici, Teknip, MAD, AlphaMetal, DualFix, Sinsay, Metalux, CARE and Lasermet, among others. Recently, at the Chilean International Mining Exhibition (EXPOMIN), Bond Laser from China also demonstrated a 12kW fiber laser scanning cutting machine, which is capable of smoothly cutting mild steel over 30mm thick on a 30m long table.
Widely used in multiple sector markets
There is no doubt that all of this is good news for research and dissemination in the remanufacturing and medical industries, as well as in the field of laser technology.
Reborn Electric Motors, a startup based in the central Chilean city of Rancagua (100 km south of Santiago), whose main business is the production of electric buses for transportation on mining sites, has used LEMACO's laser-cut parts to manufacture a series of support angles and housing components for the protection of circuit boards and lithium iron phosphate batteries. Felipe Cevallos, CEO, noted the advantages of laser cutting for rapid prototyping of new metal parts and precise manufacturing of CAD designs.
To date, they have produced nearly 100 buses for CODELCO, one of the world's largest copper mining companies committed to reducing its carbon footprint. Currently, the bus chassis is made in Brazil, but it was modified in Chile to match the electric motor, and the LIPB package was imported from China; the body was designed in Chile and manufactured by Marco Polo in Brazil. However, their plan is to expand chassis production in Chile and to export the entire bus product to Brazil starting in the near future.
Despite the global challenges, laser technology is widely used in a small, distant country like Chile. Despite its extremely open market economy, it is expected that the country's upcoming re-industrialization process will further increase the presence of laser technology in Chilean industry and academia.
Also worth mentioning is the high power laser cutting market in Chile. There has also been considerable growth in the market for high power laser cutting applications in Chile over the past twenty years or so. In February 1999, Industrial Laser Solutions installed the country's first high power CO2 laser (Rofin Sinar 800W fast axial laser) in Chile, when it was still Cincinnati that sold three CNC machines to Santiago metalworking company Titan Ltda, Chile before this key advance was made. A few years later, metal shop factory Sinsay installed an LMP machine from Israel in Santiago, however, due to operational problems, the unit never became fully operational. After that, however, Sinsay installed another laser cutting machine in 2002, which by then was a full-fledged Bystronic Bystar 2000 machine. Today, the number of high-powered industrial CO2 laser cutting machines operating in San Diego has grown exponentially.
Several other laser system companies, such as Yamazaki Mazak and Laser Cutting Inc., have also penetrated the Chilean market. Laser Cutting Inc. entered the market roughly in 2002, selling used equipment equipped with 2kW PRC lasers directly to LEMACO as it prepared to start up its laser cutting division, and in 2007, LEMACO purchased a new ByVention 3015 laser system from Bystronic.
Other laser brands have also been angling for the Chilean market for a while, especially from European and Asian companies. These include the Limoges laser cutting system driven by the CO2 Wegmann Basel 2.2 kW laser, the Italian Prima Lasertech system equipped with a 3.4 kW PRC CO2 laser, and the Astrida system with the EL.EN 3 kW laser, introduced from Spain in 2007.
Industrial lasers have gained a wide range of applications in the Chilean market in several sectors:
1) Coal mining industry
Chile has a booming mining industry, and industrial lasers are used in mining applications including drilling and cutting, cleaning, etc. It is worth mentioning that Chile's mining industry has grown rapidly in recent years and has become the world's largest producer of copper. As the mining industry continues to grow, the demand for industrial lasers in its mining applications is also expected to climb.
Coal mining machinery and equipment itself can be exposed to wet, corrosive working environments for long periods of time and is therefore highly susceptible to corrosion and wear damage. To solve this problem, laser cladding technology has been widely used in the treatment and repair of coal mining machinery, which can effectively repair worn machinery, thus improving its performance and extending its service life.
For coal mining companies, laser equipment has become an important tool and an environmentally friendly processing method. After coal mining enterprises open laser cladding technology production lines, laser cladding technology is used to treat the surface of cut-off teeth, scraper conveyor chutes, etc., which can help these enterprises reduce costs and increase efficiency.
2) Automotive Industry
One of the main drivers of the Chilean industrial laser market is the automotive industry. Chile has a large automotive manufacturing industry, and industrial lasers are used in all stages of automotive production, including cutting, welding and engraving. As the demand for automotive market in Chile and South America continues to grow, the demand for industrial lasers in the country's automotive industry is also expected to increase.
3) Electronics Industry
The application of industrial lasers in the electronics industry is also one of the key areas of the Chilean market. Chile has a booming electronics manufacturing industry, and industrial lasers can be used in the manufacture of electronic components as well as in the manufacture of consumer electronics such as smartphones. As the global demand for electronic devices continues to rise, it is also driving the growth in demand for industrial lasers in the Chilean electronics industry.
4) Medical Industry
The medical industry is also an important market for the Chilean industrial laser market. Lasers are used in a wide range of medical applications such as surgery, dermatology and dentistry. Chile has a well-established healthcare system and with a growing and aging population, the demand for medical services and equipment is expected to rise. This is also likely to lead to an increase in demand for industrial lasers in the medical industry.
Chilean laser companies play an important role in the market and offer a diverse range of laser products and services to domestic and international customers. In terms of technology, fiber lasers are expected to be the major growth area for the Chilean industrial laser market in 2023. Fiber lasers are well suited for various industrial applications due to their advantages such as high efficiency, reliability, and low maintenance requirements. As the global demand for fiber lasers continues to grow, the Chilean market is expected to take a share of it.