One of our coil coating customers in the Southeastern United States specializing in high quality aluminum coating and steel coil coating, found himself at a competitive disadvantage because his line is not equipped with a second top-finish head to provide “quick-change” capability.
Though not alone, this left him with no way to embed cleaning time into his coating system run time, which meant that every minute spent cleaning represented time that the line was down. This was limiting the capacity.
The Profile Correction Module (PCM) provided a low-cost solution to their problem.
It’s All About Fill Volume
In his recent blog, “3 Ways PCM Reduces Cleaning Costs in Metal Coating Operations," Mark Portelli stated:
“The PCM can help combat [cleaning] costs by reducing the system fill volume, enabling improved cleaning while using less solvent, and shortening color change time.”
The key to implementing the PCM to achieve these effects is to “drop the pan," converting it from a paint delivery system into a catch basin and paint return system. In taking this approach, our customer was able to:
- Reduce paint delivery system volume by more than 70%
- Reduce the length, volume and complexity of the paint return path
- Reduce surface area in contact with paint during the coating operation
1. Reducing Drain Time
Simple.
2. Reducing Surface Cleaning Time
In their case, the paint returned to the drum via a complex system involving pumping, piping, and other parts that were no longer necessary at this lower fill volume. These were hard-to-clean parts, too. And hard-to-clean = time-to-clean.
After the system was drained with these changes in place, the pan could be dropped down and squeegeed out to reclaim as much usable paint as possible. A premier feature of the PCM is its ability to drop away from the rolls for cleaning purposes. Once the rolls were cleaned, the PCM was cleaned with a solvent soaked sponge, then, the pan, pre-washed by the solvent from the rollers, was also cleaned with a sponge.
3. Reducing System Fill Time
Objective Realized
This concept is not new. Folks have been trying to improve their pan designs to achieve minimum volume, optimal coating application quality, and easier cleaning for years. But by leveraging the unique configuration of the PCM, our customer was able to develop an innovative cleaning procedure that reduced their color change time by more than 30%.
Download our free Coil World Article to learn more about the module and how it can help your business.
