Get the Perfect Ratio with GEMS 2K
When it comes to mixing paint, accuracy is the key to achieving a high-quality finish. In this case study, we discuss a 2K solution that helped this customer perfect their process and save tons in production costs.
Customer
Manufacturer of roadside transformers.
Challenge
This company has a small parts booth for primer and topcoats. The operator had to manually mix two types of epoxy and one urethane. Each day he had to spray all three colors from the same hot pot system. The color change process was a major problem as the different parts to be sprayed were not batched. This caused a lot of waste of paint and solvent. The other concern was being off ratio and parts not curing properly. This was a major cost to the company. They also had a large booth that sprayed the finished transformer. They had to utilize the same paints and this process had the same problems. If the large transformer was off ratio, they had to sand the paint off and repeat the entire process. This proved to be a very expensive problem.
Air Power Solution
Air Power proposed to install a Carlisle GEMS 2K mix system for each color. We also put in a pump system to pump and circulate all paints to the mix machines. The catalyst was dispensed to the machines from 5-gallon pressure tanks. The 55-gallon drums of paint each had an agitator in them to keep paint in suspension to maintain viscosity. By having a machine for each color there was no color change or off ratio problems.
Results
The Air Power Solution eliminated the need to hot pot in tanks. Since each color is mixed on demand; this system provided a major labor savings. There is no paint waste and the newly established process saves about 2 to 3 hours per shift as compared to manually formulating and mixing paint. The solvent usage was greatly reduced as there was not a tank to clean each color change. This solution has been able to speed up production on all three shifts. Our technical group and installers were able to put the system in place without impeding the customer’s production runs.
