LNA Laser recently installed two laser marking systems at The Avedis Zildjian factory in Norwell, Massachusetts. Zildjian is the world’s leading cymbal manufacturer and the oldest family owned business in the United States. Their customers form a who’s who list of drummers. from jazz legends – Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich to rock pioneers such as Ringo Starr (The Beatles), Charlie Watts (The Rolling Stones) and Keith Moon (The Who).
Zildjian was the first music company in the United States to receive ISO 9001 certification. Part of that process required traceability of the products. According to Paul Struble, Vice President of Operations, They turned to lasers for marking as it allowed them to remove a mechanical step by engraving their logo with a laser and most importantly, create a permanent mark on each cymbal with a unique serial number.”
“With a fanuc robot integrated into the production process. Now, one operator can use two laser marking systems simultaneously,”
An added benefit to permanent direct part marking is eliminating the need for adhesive labels which typically get removed. A direct part mark bar code or 2D data matrix can be made incredibly small and provide more traceability information. This will benefit Zildjian in tracking cymbals, for their dealers’ inventory control and for accurate pricing at the point of purchase.
Daniel Gold, President of LNA stated, “LNA’s fiber laser systems provide Zildjian with greatly improved mark quality, process control, traceability, productivity and reliability. A simple user interface was created to limit operator time and potential for error. The interface allows the operator to scan a barcode; containing lot number, job number and serial number and load the appropriate marking file template from a central database. Additionally, the LNA software automatically increments the serial number after each marking cycle.”
