Customer Profile: Bono Steel

Bono Steel offers their customers quicker turnaround times and value for money with the acquisition of a new CNC Cutting System from MicroStep

The company Bono Steel, situated in Gauteng, South Africa, opened its´ doors in 2006 seeing a gap in the market for quick profiling at competitive pricing. They started small but with good business sense and initiative, the company has managed to grow from strength to strength and is now widely known in the industry and supply the greater Gauteng region. They continually strive to attain newer and more advanced technologies, which allows for faster turnaround times and high-quality service levels. The team is dynamic and knows the importance of staying in touch with all the latest trends.

In 2020, they saw a need for further expansion to accommodate their 24-hour shifts and to remain competitive in the industry and too continuously offer high quality products, at competitive prices and with timeous delivery. It was during Covid that they realized that it was even more necessary to stay ahead of the game and stand out from the competition. Their machine arrived in 2021 and they have not looked back, ever since.

We asked Wayne Stanton, General manager of Bono Steel, why they felt the need to expand their factory floor. ¨Bono Steel has been engaging with customers and has realised the need for a quicker product turnaround time. We need to produce a component that is cut, ground, bevelled and ready for welding. By speeding up our services, we become more efficient and save ourselves and our customers time and money. We also determined that there was a need to cut stainless steel up to 50mm thick and the Microstep plasma cutter is more than capable of handling this, with excellent repeatability and consistency.¨

They looked at other competitors in the CNC Plasma Cutting market and realized that the MicroStep machine was their best choice.

In order for Bono Steel to be able to give their customers an overall one-stop-shop, experience, they needed a flexible cnc cutting machine that could perform various tasks in one. The CombiCut Gantry CNC Cutting Machine from MicroStep is just that, offering a possibility of combined technologies.

They also needed to cut bevelled stainless steel and when they approached Ludwig Oellermann from MicroStep SA, he knew we had the right solution for Bono Steel. ¨Fiberlaser cannot cut bevelled stainless steel, but Plasma definitely can, especially with a Kjellberg Plasma Source, which also is able to cut thicker on mild steel and obviously stainless steel. The CombiCut CNC Plasma-Flame Combo system is a brilliant solution for Bono Steel. ¨ Ludwig Oellermann, MD MicroStep SA.

Bono Steel in Gauteng are now able to cut flame and plasma on one machine, both with bevel cutting options and weld preparations.  This incredible solution has allowed for a significant improvement to their service offering, as previously they had to machine and grind in the bevels for weld preparation.

This is what their Plasma-Flame Combo System looks like.

The first gantry is fitted with one 3D Flame Cutting Head, two 2D Flame Cutting Heads, one (ABP-Additional Bevel Cutting and Processing) Scanner and one ACTG (Calibration Unit).

The second gantry is fitted with one 3D Plasma Cutting Head with a SmartFocus 400 Kjelberg Plasma Source, 4 Flame Cutting Heads, one (ABP) Scanner and one ACTG (Calibration Unit).

This robust machine is 25 meters long and can run-on 24-hour shifts.

¨Our Microstep is used to cut a variety of materials. We have also started cutting all weld preparations and bevels with the 3D plasma head. We make use of both the oxy fuel and plasma cutting heads.¨ Wayne Stanton, GM, Bono Steel.

Since the acquisition of the machine they have improved on cut quality, speed and are able to offer their customers better delivery times over a variety of materials.

About the Company

Bono Steel | CNC Laser Cutter | CNC Bending | Plasma Cutting | Flame Cutting

Bono Steel

70 Serenade Road,
Henville, Germiston,
Johannesburg, South Africa

CombiCut 24000 x 3000mm, Smartfocus 400, Kjellberg

This robust and high-precision CNC machine is designed specifically for multiple-shift high performance plasma and oxyfuel cutting. It allows cutting of steel up to 300 mm, bevel cutting with a pair of rotary oxyfuel triple torches or plasma rotators, simultaneous cutting with up to 8 torches, drilling up to Ø 40 mm, inkjet or micro-percussion marking, pipe and dome processing.

Notable features include:

• Robust construction designed for heavy-duty oxyfuel and plasma cutting,
• Very good cutting quality because of a dual synchronized drive system in longitudinal axis,
• High-quality plasma cutting with high-definition plasma as well as with standard air plasma sources
• Possibility of simultaneous oxyfuel cutting with up to 8 torches
• Advanced height control for plasma cutting based on proprietary adaptive algorithms backed by a ball screw actuated Z axis.

What is ABP (Additional Bevel Processing)

Additional weld preparation on CNC cutting machines for plasma and oxyfuel cutting.

MicroStep‘s extensive knowledge in bevel cutting and process control, has allowed them to develop technology involving laser scanning of parts along with software tools that enable programming of additional bevels on parts. The process was named ABP – Additional Bevelling Process. ABP technology proves to be of highest quality and is just a fraction of the price, that a robot acquisition would cost.

ABP offers some clear advantages, in that the entire process can be done on the same system – this is time saving, that it would generally take to manipulate a part, as well as save on extra factory space, as there are no robots, or other machinery taking up factory floor space.  MicroStep machines are highly flexible and various technologies that can be added, even a laser cutting head.  Also, cutting results achieved on a gantry- type machine are highly accurate due to the generally higher rigidity of the cutting machine.

In closing, it gives us great joy to see our customers growing and thriving with our solutions. “The MicroStep machine has exceeded our expectations and has allowed us to achieve the levels of high quality cutting and efficiency far beyond our expectations” Wayne Stanton, GM