Why is Laser Cutting More Popular than Water Jet Cutting
For cutting parts, two key options are laser cutting and water jet cutting – but despite one of these having clear advantages it is also the option that appears to be less popular or well known?
Why is that and will it change?
The technology we are referring to is two forms of cutting – laser and water jet cutting. Because this is the website of leading UK water jet cutters, you have probably heard of water jet cutting, but out amongst the general public it would be different.
If you were to go out on the streets and ask random passers-by, more people would know about laser cutting than water jet cutting. If you had to get them to draw a diagram, they would likely be more confident in showing laser cutting (even if their drawing then lacked accuracy).
In numerical terms, the difference is staggering.
On Google, for water jet cutting there are just shy of 50 million results. For laser cutting there are one billion, 330 million – that’s 1,330,000,000. This is approaching 50 times as many results.
Elsewhere, if you put water jet cutting as a search in Twitter to see the recent posts, you will see only a handful over the past few days. For laser cutting, there are somewhere around 50 per day as a rough average.
Neither term is close to going viral, but laser cutting still far exceeds volume for water jet cutting.
Loosely, this will be correlated in enquiries to those offering cutting services too. There will be more incidences of someone contacting laser cutters to enquire about a part being cut – perhaps requesting a quote – than would occur for water jet cutting.
All this matters.
We don’t say it matters because water jet cutting is our business – though of course we want to remain busy. It matters more though on a macro level, as we look at the economy as a whole.
Water jet cutting is more efficient and accurate than laser cutting. It can cut in three dimensions and it can cut to three times the depth of a laser. The cutting process is akin to accelerated erosion, with no heat generated, and thus no damage to the part being cut.
These are huge and significant advantages over laser. Laser is fine for cutting thin plastic, but for many other jobs it has had its day.
Sticking to laser technology means using companies that might be overburdened with orders and who then use a cutting tech that is not the market-leading option. It is likely to mean parts arrive slower and at a greater cost.
In a global economy, this matters. There is a clear trend of water jet cutting usage growing exponentially in Southeast Asia and other parts of the globe, thus making their manufacturing ever more competitive.
Many businesses could save time and money if only they knew more about water jet cutting, or even just contacted a specialist to chat through their requirements and request a quote.
Will this change over time? We expect a fairly gradual shift – water jet cutting is wonderfully effective but it is not newsworthy, it just does the job. It may spread by word of mouth recommendation as more people become aware of its advantages. However, there is unlikely to be a sudden flood of new orders, or a wave of new custom (sorry, we couldn’t resist a couple of water-based puns).
Obviously it doesn’t matter how many searches there are on Google for any topic – all cutting technologies will be eclipsed by finalists from Love Island in terms of search interest.
However, what matters more is if people are only aware of one option when better alternatives exist – this true in so many aspects of life.
Work with the UK’s leading Water Jet Cutters
At TMC, we are a water jet cutter who serve the whole of the UK and increasingly Europe too, with clients across the content trusting us to work on their projects.
Despite our success, we remain a company that focusses on every client and work on projects of all sizes. If you think water jet cutting might be of use for your project, please do get in touch for an obligation-free chat.
Call us on 01625 610 441 or use our Contact Form.
