Painting is often a bottleneck, given the time-consuming, sequential process, the importance of quality, and the limited capacity of work that can be done in a spray booth. Automation and robotic systems can increase throughput while improving quality, but this can be a big investment for a shop with a history of operating a manual paint system.
The paint and coatings industry has made a lot of improvements in atomization and transfer efficiency in the past few years; chances are, there are significant opportunities for upgrades in your paint operation. With so many variables to account for in a paint operation, it is important to utilize subject matter experts to help you achieve the desired outcome. Afterall, the best solution is relative to your needs.
Let’s look at the four reasons you might want to upgrade your spray paint operation, as summarized by Justin Hooper, Global Product Manager for Carlisle Fluid Technologies, at the Spray Equipment & Service Center’s Tech Days.
1. Paint System Safety: Build Confidence for Employees and Regulators
It’s essential for any paint operation to have safety at the forefront, not only for the health of your employees but also for your bottom line. Your safety strategy begins with environmental regulations and preventative measures to minimize risk, reduce waste, and gain the confidence of your staff.
You might be looking to upgrade your spray operation’s ventilation, protective gear and equipment to account for things such as:
HAZARDOUS POLLUTANTS: Traditional coatings contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and hazardous air pollutants (HAPs).
SPRAY GUNS: Holding a spray gun for many hours a day can lead to tired operators, which might lead to inconsistent performance and finish quality. The physical nature of the task can also lead to repetitive strain injuries (RSI). Lighter guns or a different technology may lead to happier employees, less down time, and lower overall costs.
REGULATIONS: Many jurisdictions now require HVLP spray guns to minimize the risk of exposure to VOCs and HAPs. HVLP guns produce less blowback to the operator and produce less VOCs.
2. Paint System Quality: Help Attract New Business and Keep Customers Happy
The quality and consistency of your painting undoubtedly plays a key role in your business model. Atomization techniques impact performance, so you should be comparing your work with competitors to see if you are maintaining a competitive advantage. You may be thinking about investing in order to play offense and go after new business, or invest to play defense in order to retain customers.
First-time yield is a great starting point when you are considering an upgrade to your paint operation, especially as it relates to warranty and re-work. Standards vary greatly with circumstance – you might be fine if 85 to 90 percent of your work does not need touchup or rework. If some pieces need to be touched up more than once, you need some help. One customer wanted to ramp up production, but their 48 percent first-time yield had to be addressed first. It made no sense to increase poor-quality production.
Issues such as runs, sags, and dry spray could be related to your equipment, types of material, amounts of material, or other variables. Experts can help you isolate issues and find appropriate solutions and upgrades.
3. Paint System Production: Provide Ways to Increase Flexibility
Upgrades may be necessary when your goal is to expand output. But, somewhat counterintuitively, upgrades may also be in order when you want to reduce shifts. You can inform your decision by reviewing the details of your operation, through the simple lens of how fast you are getting parts out the door.
For example, you can look at trigger time for your operators and what happens at the beginning and end of each shift. If operators do not do a good job of cleaning at the end of the shift, operators on the next shift might be dealing with an air cap that doesn’t work, or a stuck trigger. It may take 20 minutes of cleanup before they can start painting.
When your goal is to increase production, take into account the constraints in your line and other factors that impact output. If your paint operation is a bottleneck, it might be time to make investments in order to meet your output goals. There are many elements to consider when it comes to increasing your output, beginning with your equipment and ways to improve transfer efficiency. You also should look at your workflow, material handling, drying/curing times, and paint formulation. Again, experts can help you identify the most effective strategies for increasing your output.
And, oddly enough, if you are looking to reduce a shift, it might be worth investing in faster atomization techniques. You will spend more to switch to rotary or electrostatic, but you will save on material use, and doing more work in less time might be the tipping point that allows you to reduce shifts and save significantly on other costs.
4. Paint System Savings: Drive Higher Margins Through Efficiencies
We pay for paint in a lot of ways – from purchase to applications, cleanup and disposal. One of the most common reasons to upgrade your paint operation is to reduce paint consumption. And there are many ways to do this, which is why it is so important to work with an expert who can help you achieve lower paint consumption without impacting other areas of your operation.
For example, you may be able to save material and improve finish quality by slowing down your painting operation a tad. But if this increases your overall cycle time and reduces overall output, you may be saving costs in one area while creating issues in another area.
As mentioned above, big savings come with transitioning to electrostatic guns or rotary atomizers. Electrostatic guns usually provide a 20-to-40 percent improvement in efficiency transfer right away. Rotary is a major leap in efficiency, but it is 10 to 15 times more expensive than conventional airless, so the applicator setup cost may go from $5,000 to $50,000 or $75,000. If you are using a lot of paint, these technologies can pay for themselves fairly quickly. This also is where an expert from Spray Equipment & Service Center can help you determine the best approach and calculate an expected ROI.
Here are a few of the many ways you might be able to reduce your paint consumption:
ADJUSTMENTS: This is a broad category. As examples, adjusting air pressure flow rates and air caps could help your transfer efficiency. Going from 61 percent efficiency to 66 percent could lead to a savings of 15-20 percent, depending on many factors. Again, be sure you are not creating other issues.
THICKNESS: A finely tuned operation may be able to achieve success with 2.1 mils of wet paint compared with the widely used standard of 2.5. That could be about a 15 percent reduction in paint.
NEW EQUIPMENT: It’s not unusual for new equipment to show a 2-3 percent improvement in paint consumption in contrast to older equipment.
Use Tests and Benchmarks to Learn and Make Your Case for Investments
We want to stress the importance of tests, trials and benchmarks as you consider upgrading your paint system. A paint system has many interrelated variables, settings and actions, so a small change in one aspect often impacts others. So try different things to see the direct and indirect impacts.
Using an example from earlier in this article, slowing the production line slightly might allow you to lower paint consumption by 10 percent, but it might mean that the slower line reduces output, offsetting your savings. On the other hand, being able to speed up the conveyor line may be worth the higher cost of paint if you reach an appropriate output.
If you don’t have the budget right now to make your desired investments, talk to your leadership about experimenting to gather data so when you do have money available, you can be efficient and impactful.
Work with Spray Equipment & Service Center to Upgrade Your Paint Operation
There are many ways to address atomization and transfer efficiency to upgrade your paint operation. We can help you determine how to achieve your desired outcomes without creating indirect impacts on your safety, quality, productivity and cost. We also provide qualified technical support and added value through:
ADVICE: Our experience, expertise, and approach work for you at every stage
SUPPLY: We have the right equipment and parts
SERVICE: We are just a phone call away (866-953-0526).