Tie Down Engineering is a multi-division manufacturer in Atlanta, US, and provides parts across industries ranging from mobile home anchoring to rooftop safety systems, and agricultural equipment. A bottleneck in their processing line was slowing production which is where Eagle stepped in.
Tie Down Engineering processes a broad range of materials: Mild steel makes up 85% of total volume, with thicknesses varying from 0.060″ (1.5 mm) sheet up to 1″ plate. Aluminium and stainless steel are smaller but essential segments for safety products and custom components. For plate thicker than one inch, Tie Down relies on plasma or oxy-fuel cutting.
Material handling and throughput are critical for a manufacturer operating around the clock. Tie Down’s automation journey started nearly two decades ago with tower-fed CO₂ lasers and has expanded to large-scale material handling systems. But as production demands grew, even this infrastructure began to strain.
“We had a bottleneck on half-inch steel plate,” says Sloan MacKarvich, Chief Business Development Officer, “We needed more power and speed.”
“I first saw an Eagle machine at FABTECH,” Sloan recalls. “The shuttle table change was unbelievably fast. With linear motors on every axis and high optical power managed reliably, it felt like a leap forward.”
The company invested in a 20 kW Eagle iNspire fibre laser with a CraneMasterStore and eTower 110 automation system. The machine now runs three shifts, nearly 24/7, cutting primarily ½-inch plate but capable of extreme throughput on thinner materials.
“Installation was straightforward,” Sloan says. “We were fully self-sufficient within six weeks, and Eagle’s support was excellent.”
The Eagle fibre laser effectively replaced the output of two machines, doubling cutting speed and throughput. This shift required Tie Down to rethink downstream processes, from unloading to maintenance cycles, but the impact has been transformative.
The system’s productivity has also opened opportunities to compete directly with stamping, a remarkable shift in a field traditionally dominated by tooling-based production. “With today’s laser speeds and accuracy, and with tooling costs rising, it’s often faster and cheaper to laser-cut parts that would have been stamped,” Sloan notes.
Contact: Camillo Brena