Smart Robotic Welding, Record-Depth Laser Welds, and Why Welding Parameters Matter November 12, 2026 Welcome to another edition of Manufacturing With Light Weekly! This week, we’re looking at several interesting developments in welding technology, from robots that can adapt to the actual part instead of following a fixed programmed path, to researchers achieving an impressive … Read more
Four very different ways lasers are moving deeper into manufacturing This week’s stories remind us that laser manufacturing goes far beyond cutting sheet metal and welding parts. We start with an application that isn’t new, but I think it deserves another look: using laser energy instead of a conventional oven to cure powder coatings. From there … Read more
From Handheld Welding to Advanced Packaging: Building Better Laser Manufacturing Platforms September 24, 2026 This week’s stories have a common theme: laser technology is becoming easier to turn into a production platform. IPG is showing handheld-laser users a path toward cobotic welding. Novanta is packaging the laser, scanner, controls, software, and calibration into one OEM … Read more
MWL Laser Manufacturing Weekly — Edition 9 September 24, 2026 This week’s stories have a common theme: laser technology is becoming easier to turn into a production platform. IPG is showing handheld-laser users a path toward cobotic welding. Novanta is packaging the laser, scanner, controls, software, and calibration into one OEM subsystem. ASMPT is combining … Read more
Blue Lasers, Beam Profiles, Microholes & Recovery This week we have four stories that touch very different parts of manufacturing with light. A blue diode laser is being used to deposit copper directly onto ceramic substrates. Tamron is moving into laser welding with a real-time beam profiler. New research shows just how much control is … Read more
September 3, 2026 Process Intelligence, 60 kW Cutting, AI Quality, and Manufacturing at Sea This week’s stories cover a wide range of laser manufacturing, but they share a common theme. The laser itself is only one part of a production system. Scanner control is becoming more closely connected with process monitoring. Cutting systems continue pushing … Read more
The laser source may be the heart of the system, but beam delivery, motion, controls, safety, process knowledge, and maintainability determine whether the machine actually succeeds. Fiber lasers have changed industrial manufacturing. They are compact, efficient, reliable, and increasingly available in power levels and configurations that would have been difficult to imagine just a few … Read more
Automation Notes What If We Standardized the Control System Before Building the Next Laser Machine? The machine should be custom. The control foundation does not always have to be. One thing that has bothered me for years in custom machine building is how often we solve the same control problems over and over again. A … Read more
When we buy a new laser cutting or welding system, most of the discussion is understandably about what the machine can do today. How fast will it cut or weld? What tolerances can it hold? What materials can it process? How much production can we get through it? But there is another question that may … Read more
August 27, 2026 Is Laser Welding Ready for the Mainstream? MWL Laser Manufacturing Weekly — Fifth Edition August 27, 2026 This week, we look at a question I think we’re going to hear more often: Is laser welding finally ready to move deeper into mainstream U.S. fabrication? We also look at a laser cutter that … Read more