Restaurant Makeover

The company’s 6- by 12-ft. OMAX® 80160 JetMachining® waterjet brings more cutting versatility into the metal shop.

Karice Enterprises, Surrey, B.C., has been a custom manufacturer and designer of architectural metal and lighting products since 1993.

In 2007 the company moved into its current 9,000-sq.-ft. facility and added a piece of equipment that would change the way it thinks about producing parts.

In November of that year, the company purchased a 6- by 12-ft. OMAX® 80160 JetMachining® waterjet to bring more cutting versatility into the metal shop. The company wanted a tool that would help them fabricate a variety of parts that were typically between 0.015 and 1 in. thick and made from both ferrous and nonferrous materials.

Karice's timing was impeccable as many cutting from local architectural and corporate design firms flooded the shop. The restaurant chain Earls, regional logging companies, and even a television station preparing for the 2010 Winter Olympics all became customers.

"Having the waterjet in our shop, especially one of this size, gives us a real advantage," said machinist Jordan Dery. "We had been discussing the purchase of a plasma table, but in the end we decided that, because of its flexibility, the waterjet was the way to go."

Owning a waterjet became one of the reasons that Karice can respond quickly to recent customer demands and pass on cost savings to its clients.

"It's changed the way that we think about making parts," said Dery. "When a part comes off the waterjet table, there is very little work that needs done to it. Any burrs created are very small, there is no slag to grind off, and there is no heat affected zone to worry about."

This means that the company can take parts directly from the waterjet table and move them down the processing chain.

"We can now weld two pieces from the waterjet almost immediately," said Dery. "This helps us create parts faster, but also helps us create parts that are better quality."

Manufacturing Flexibility

Karice is a fairly small shop, employing only 10 people, but the variety of work those employees produce is impressive. Parts made from stainless steel, brass, bronze, aluminum, and mild steel in various finishes and colors are common. Now, with the waterjet, they also process wood, laminates, stone, and glass. And if it is necessary, the company now can cut up to 8-in.-thick mild steel.

Both stone and metal can be cut on the waterjet at Karice Enterprises, Surrey, B.C., giving the shop flexibility.: For the Earls restaurant chain, Karice created a number of parts, from large architectural masterpieces to simple signage.

"We work with designers to be able to produce parts that have that special look," said Dery.

For the Earls restaurant chain, Karice created a number of parts, from large architectural masterpieces to simple signage. For example, the restaurant's corporate design group recently assigned Karice the task of creating ornate mild steel divider panels for a restaurant in Vancouver's Yaletown district.

"We could have outsourced that Earls project for laser cutting, but it was more cost-effective to do it on waterjet," said Dery. "We have the waterjet in-house and we have the parts in five minutes, instead of waiting for a couple of days for parts to be lasered by a contractor."

Since the success of the first panel delivery, Karice has contributed more interior design work and lighting fixtures for Earls restaurants across Canada, and even for a branch location in the U.S.

"We recently did a job for them that incorporated both metal and stone for their bathroom signs," said Dery. "Because of the precision cutting ability of the waterjet and the programming that we can do on it, we were able to produce lettering that fit exactly into the cut-out holes of the metal. It really made a nice piece."

It's not just part quality that has been affected by the addition of the waterjet to Karice's shop floor, however.

Better control of production time results in shorter turnaround times. Dery said the company now has a reputation among the restaurant businesses in southern British Columbia for quality interior design work and dependable service.

"Our shop has definitely changed for the better," said Dery. "There are a lot of laser shops around the area, but not too many people can do what we can, especially cutting metals like aluminum and brass. Lasers have trouble with this reflective material, but we cut right through it."

Worry-free Manufacturing

The OMAX Terrain Follower device, which attaches directly to the waterjet's Z axis, detects changes in a material's height and adjusts nozzle height automatically. A collision detector pauses the motion of the machine if the nozzle meets an obstruction in its path.

"Because of the automatic height adjustment, I can be programming offline while the machine is running and I don't have to worry about crashes," said Dery. "We try to keep our waterjet running as much as we can, and that means that a lot of programming has to be done."

For more information, visit www.karice.com and www.omax.com.