Paint Line ROI

Late in 2015 a paint line production company in Wisconsin came to us with a problem.

They had an automated paint line with ineffective paint flow controls.  The existing system wore out prematurely and was very expensive to repair.

We sat down with the customer and listened to their problem.  Together we drew up a solution and put in motion a timely R&D project.

Within weeks, we were able to put it all together and prove the solution in our test lab.

Problems:

– Existing paint line controls had worn out positive displacement pumps regulating paint flow.  Control was almost non-existent.

– Existing system had large paint volume to flush out between color changes.  Some components needed to be removed and manually cleaned between colors.

– Replacement part costs for the old system was near $200,000 and there was a track record of poor performance.

Solution:

Eliminate the positive displacement pumps and the associated control system.

Install Siemens mass flow meters and pressure regulators on the paint lines.

Use flush-able pressure transmitters to monitor paint pressures at the nozzle.

Used an existing Allen Bradley Logix controller and configured a self populating data table to act as a high speed look-up for control variables.  This minimized response time of for set point changes.

Results:

An estimated 90 day ROI for overall project.

Overall cost around $120,000.  That’s 40% less than repairing the old system!

Paint usage dropped around 50%.  Cleaning solution dropped approximately 30%.

Lower cost replacement parts compared to the original pain flow controls.

We were able to reduce the volume and time of flushes between colors by approximately 75%.  Everything now flushed in line without being removed.

Accurate and fast control action improved quality of topcoat finishes.