Amada APELIO 357V

The Amada APELIO 357V is a combination CNC punch press and CO2 laser cutting machine, representing Amada's integrated punch/laser platform for fabricators who need both punching and laser cutting capability in a single machine footprint. By combining a 30-ton turret punch press with a CO2 laser cutting head on a common sheet handling system, the APELIO 357V allows complex parts to be completed in one setup — punching large hole patterns, forms, and threads at high speed, then laser cutting intricate profiles, fine detail, and external contours that punch tooling cannot economically produce.

The punch/laser combination approach of the APELIO 357V addresses a fundamental limitation of dedicated punch presses: the inability to economically produce irregular external profiles and contoured cutouts without complex multi-hit nibbling operations that are slow and produce rough edges. By assigning profile cutting to the laser head, the APELIO 357V eliminates nibbling on external contours while retaining the speed advantage of punching for all repetitive hole patterns and formed features. This division of labor — punch for repetitive features, laser for profiles — results in total cycle times faster than either a dedicated punch or laser could achieve alone on complex fabricated parts.

Amada's APELIO 357V features a 36-station punch turret with a 30-ton punching force, paired with a 2.5 kW or 3 kW CO2 laser resonator. The punch turret accommodates Amada's A through E tooling with auto-index capability, providing strong tool capacity for complex part families. The CO2 laser is suited for mild steel up to 12 mm, stainless up to 6 mm, and aluminum up to 4 mm for cutting, while the punch handles the same material ranges for punching operations. Both axes share the same coordinate system and sheet reference, ensuring precise registration between punched and laser-cut features without repositioning.

Programming the APELIO 357V is handled through Amada's AP100 or Dr.ABE_Blank software, which automatically assigns features to punch or laser based on programmed rules — hole diameters below the minimum nibble threshold go to laser, standard round and square holes go to punch, all external profiles go to laser, forms go to punch. This automatic feature assignment significantly reduces CAM programming time versus manually designating every feature. The resulting NC program interleaves punch and laser operations in the optimized sequence to minimize head changeover time.

The APELIO 357V is positioned in the $600,000-$900,000 range for new machines, reflecting the combined cost of a premium punch press and CO2 laser in a single integrated system. For fabricators who would otherwise need to purchase both a dedicated punch press and a laser cutting machine, the APELIO 357V offers a lower total capital cost, reduced floor space, and eliminated inter-machine material handling. It is particularly well suited to precision sheet metal shops, electrical enclosure manufacturers, and contract fabricators producing parts with a combination of dense hole patterns and complex external geometries.