How to Specify and Procure an Industrial Laser Cleaning System
When a company buys its first laser cleaning system, the request often reaches procurement as a single line: "Laser cleaner, handheld, 1000 W." Vendors quote against that line, the quotes can't be compared, and the machine that arrives may or may not do the job.
A good specification fixes that. It describes the work, not just the machine, so engineering, safety and procurement ask every vendor the same questions and compare the answers fairly. Here's a framework you can adapt.
1. Describe the work
This is the most important section, and the one most often skipped.
What must be removed: rust, mill scale, paint system (with layers and approximate thickness), powder coat, oxide, heat tint, grease, release agent, soot.
What must stay: the substrate (carbon steel, stainless, aluminium, cast iron, stone, wood), plus any plating, primer or surface that must not be damaged.
Part description: size, weight, geometry, and whether the work is on parts brought to the laser or on structures in place.
Volume: square metres or parts per shift, per week and per year, and how variable that is.
Where the work happens: a shop, a production line, outdoors, in confined spaces, at height or at multiple sites.
2. Define "clean"
Without acceptance criteria, every result is arguable.
Cleanliness: the visual standard your coating or inspection spec already uses, or a reference sample everyone agrees on.
Surface profile: if the next coating needs an anchor profile, state the profile range and how it's measured.
Substrate condition: limits on marking, discolouration or heat effects on thin or finished parts.
Next process: welding, bonding, inspection or recoating, and that process's own requirements.
3. State the site conditions
Power available: single-phase or three-phase, voltage and amperage at the point of use. Needle and Kamino run on single-phase 110 to 240 V; Jango and Dagger need three-phase 380 to 440 V, which may mean a transformer at Canadian 600 V sites. See Single-Phase vs Three-Phase.
Environment: temperature range, humidity, dust and whether the system will be moved between sites. Netalux systems are specified for operation at roughly 4 to 35 °C.
Cooling and air: water cooling for Jango and Dagger; compressed air where the handset needs it.
Access: doorways, lifting, floor loading and distance from the cart to the work (fibre length).
4. Ask for the right machine information
Ask every vendor for the same data, so you can compare like with like:
Average power and maximum pulse energy (mJ). Wattage alone doesn't tell you what the laser will remove in one pass. See Pulse Energy, Not Just Watts.
Beam profile (Gaussian, top-hat, or adjustable) and pulse frequency range.
Pulsed or continuous-wave operation.
Cooling, power supply, weight and fibre length.
Automation options and control interface, if relevant. Netalux stationary systems, built on any of the four models, use a MODBUS/TCP control interface; Kamino and Dagger also integrate with robots, cobots and crawlers.
Where the system is designed and built, and who services it in Canada.
5. Require the safety package
A Class 4 laser system should come with more than a pair of glasses.
Laser classification and the manufacturer's safety documentation.
Support for your hazard assessment and controlled-area plan.
Eyewear specification for the wavelength (1064 nm for these systems), with the optical density stated.
Barrier, extraction and respiratory protection recommendations for your coatings.
Laser Safety Officer training for your designated LSO.
See laser safety equipment for the eyewear, barriers and extraction we supply.
6. Specify training and support
Operator training: on the delivered machine, on your parts, at your site or the vendor's.
LSO training: a recognized course, with records.
Support: hours, response times, remote and on-site options, and who answers the phone in your time zone.
Parts: which consumables are stocked in Canada, and lead times for the rest.
Maintenance: a schedule for filters, protective glass, cooling water and service.
7. Build in a trial
Make a sample test or on-site trial a condition of award. Send the same parts to every shortlisted vendor, or invite them to run a trial at your site, and judge the results against the acceptance criteria in section 2. For stationary or automated systems, add a factory or site acceptance test to the contract. Our post From Sample Test to Capital Approval covers how to run one.
8. Score on value, not just price
A simple weighted scorecard keeps the decision honest:
Trial results against your acceptance criteria
Throughput measured on your parts, setup to finished part
Safety package and training
Canadian support, parts and service response
Fit with your site: power, cooling, access and automation
Total cost of ownership: capital or financing, consumables, maintenance and training
A one-page RFQ checklist
Work description: contaminant, substrate, parts, volume, location
Acceptance criteria: cleanliness, profile, substrate limits, next process
Site conditions: power, environment, cooling, air, access
Machine data: power, pulse energy, beam profile, cooling, weight, fibre length, automation
Safety package and LSO training
Operator training, support hours, parts stock and maintenance plan
Trial or acceptance test as a condition of award
Scoring method shared with all vendors
How Laserverse responds to a spec
We answer every section above, run the trial on your parts, and tell you plainly if a section of your spec points to a different machine, or to a different method altogether. Financing is available through Alliance Financing, and rentals are available for pilots. Contact us for rates and availability.
Send us your spec or book a sample test, or call +1 (705) 805-2737.
