Start of Production of the High-Power Laser Diode Module

April 8th, 2016

Fanuc Corporation
Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd.

From April, FF Laser Corporation, a joint venture company of Fanuc Corporation (President: Yoshiharu Inaba; hereinafter, Fanuc) and Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd. (President and Chief Operating Officer: Mitsuyoshi Shibata; hereinafter, Furukawa Electric) has started its production of high-power laser diode modules (hereinafter, LDM), which are a key component in industrial optical fiber lasers (hereinafter, fiber lasers).

Background

In July 2015, both companies have established a joint company for LDMs, which are a key component for the fiber lasers that are spreading rapidly in the metal processing sector for cutting and welding applications and have been preparing to set up automated production equipment. Fanuc and Furukawa Electric have each contributed 50% capital and have selected officers from each company for this joint company.

Content

FF Laser Company has started its first mass production line of industrial high-power LDMs by combining both companies’ technological strengths, namely, the automatic manufacturing technology of Fanuc and the high-power semiconductor laser technology of Furukawa Electric. Stable supply of high quality and highly reliable LDMs will be realized through this automation.

• Start of Production: April 2016
• Main Equipment: 8 units of Furukawa Electric’s alignment machines, 9 units of Fanuc’s robots, etc.
• First Production Line’s Capacity: LDMs equivalent to 60kW per month fiber laser production. Hereafter, expansion is scheduled in steps.