Water Jet Cutting – Is The UK Lagging Behind?

Over the past few decades, water jet cutting has grown in importance globally.

From being a niche technology, used just by a few forward-thinking companies, it is now trusted by everyone from the smallest of businesses to huge global players.

This change is because of two reasons – greater awareness of the advantages of water jet cutting, but also advances in the technology itself, making water jet cutting an increasingly compelling choice.

However, had the UK lagged behind somewhat? While water jet cutting has grown in importance here, has the acceleration been less marked than in other parts of the world and could this create future problems?

To be truthful, it is impossible to get exact figures. We cannot say with certainty that X% of companies in the US use water jet cutting for their cutting needs, Y% in the UK and so on and so forth for the rest of Europe or further afield.

However, there is other evidence. There is the amount of search traffic going on for water jet cutting services; how often do businesses around the world search for that sort of term in their language?

That paints a picture where the emerging economies of Asia, as well as Australia far outstrip search in the UK and the US. In fact, Canada produces more searches for the term than the US – and that’s total searches, not just as a proportion of population.

There is also the weight of research and writing – numerous research and market impact papers coming out of Asia, far less out of the US and UK; some areas have held conferences looking at water jet cutting and its projected future.

The picture appears to be one where in the likes of the US, UK and Europe, water jet cutting is important, growing steadily, but not as central to production as elsewhere.

Potentially, this could have an impact on future productivity. As we have explored elsewhere, water jet cutting has many advantages over other cutting technologies.

It can through thicker materials (ten times the depth of laser cutting, for example). It doesn’t; produce heat and so does not damage the cut edge. It is environmentally friendly, the only waste being water and inert cutting agent.

Then there are the recent advances, XD cutting that allows complex three-dimensional parts to be cut in one fluid motion, removing the need for retooling and secondary cuts.

These efficiencies in many cases make water jet cutting the most cost-effective and also quickest option. In global industries, it is a factor which could serve to make one country’s output more appealing than another’s and, for a country like the UK with the economy facing an uncertain future, any small factor could be hugely significant.

Ultimately, though, it is an easy process for any company to switch to water jet cutting. There are many fine water jet companies across the UK, of course we would like to recommend ourselves in that group, we were an early adopter of XD cutting and have stayed at the cutting edge of this cutting edge technology.

If you are wondering whether water jet cutting is right for your jobs, or just want to get a quote to see how it compares to other options, please do get in touch.