ammons Metal & Manufacturing Co. Inc. is no stranger to growth. The small metal parts and fabrication shop opened its doors in 1968 and has since maintained an upward trajectory. In 1998, the Indianapolis-based company changed hands. Today, Gammons, helmed by owner Dave Sutton, is one of the largest independent metal fabrication companies in the Midwest. The 70,000-sq.-ft. facility can saw, shear, punch, tap, bend, pierce and notch carbon steel, cold rolled, hot rolled pickled and oiled, galvanized, aluminum, stainless, brass and copper. Its skilled personnel can take parts from prototype to production runs, subassemblies, inspection and shipping. Seamless processing is a hallmark of Gammons. A bottleneck in its cutting operations prompted the manufacturer to look at fiber laser technology that could handle larger volumes.

The company has a lot of good things going for it. There was just one issue that needed solving.

“We were looking to expand and take on bigger jobs,” Sutton says. “100,000-piece orders instead of 100-piece orders. With our existing equipment, we were unable to do that. We wanted a large-volume laser cutter with state-of-the-art automation.”

Sutton and his team visited a number of facilities to see demonstrations of different brands. Reputation, quality and transparency prompted the manufacturer to choose Cincinnati Inc. and its CL-900 fiber laser with a MARCH 360 automation tower. The fiber laser series provides high-speed cutting for thinner materials at lower operating costs. Programmable beam quality and other features support machine tool performance for processing all metals and thicknesses.

“Proximity and being U.S.-based was important to us,” says Sutton. “Nothing against the other options out there—many of them have served us well and still do. But this was a major change for us, and we hoped to form a partnership with our supplier. To that end, we wanted the best in cooperation and communication. Cincinnati provided that from day one.”

The CL-900 fiber laser and MARCH 360 automation tower were installed in May 2018. The manufacturer added a second CL-900 machine with a smaller automation tower in 2020.

“We liked how easy it was to set up common-line cutting on the CL fiber laser,” says Sutton. “To us, that is a big deal. We save sheets upon sheets of material with common-line cutting, which is real dollars back in our pocket.”

Gammons operators use third-party SigmaNEST software to run the fiber lasers. The manufacturer has used the product a number of years and its operators are familiar with the way it functions.

“Most OEMs prefer not to work with third-party software,” says Sutton. “You’re pretty much forced into using their software packages and locking yourself in with sizeable annual fees. Cincinnati is software friendly, even though they have a software offering of their own. That was a big factor in our decision. We heard from other Cincinnati customers that their service and support was top-notch. Everybody bragged about the service department, and we were impressed with the staff during our facility tours. We threw challenges at them, and their staff always came up with solid, very effective and imaginative solutions.” Gammons has found the fiber lasers to be durable and trouble-free. The CL-900 machines are able to run thousands of parts during a shift.

In addition to reliable equipment, Cincinnati has also built its reputation on its employees. The OEM’s service techs, programming support and application engineers have proved their mettle to the manufacturer. “It’s been outstanding,” Sutton says. “My operators compliment Cincinnati every day.”

The biggest change the Gammons staff has noticed has been a welcome one. The company has increased sales because of its ability to take jobs it previously could not.