THE BUSINESS OF VISCOSITY BLOG

In our recent blog, “3 Ways PCM Reduces Costs in Aluminum and Steel Coil Coating," we outlined the case of one of our clients who utilized the PCM to address cleaning issues in their coating systems. They reduced their paint delivery system volume by more than 70% which:

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.

Please excuse the trite reference to Stephen Covey! But in this case, there really are seven traits that we see that signify that we are working with a world-class coater. Truly world class coil coaters are identified by their ability to:

1. Provide a high quality surface finish batch-after-batch
2. Deliver on time, every time

In our blog, "3 Reasons Coil Coating System Cleaning Costs are Increasing" we revealed that, as the title implies, the three primary reasons that cleaning costs are increasing are:

• Short runs / small lot sizes
• Frequent deliveries
• Custom colors

As with virtually all decorative industrial coating operations, color changes are a fact of life for coil coating systems. In our recent blog titled, “6 Ways Changing Colors Can Disrupt Coating Technology,” we discussed the many issues associated with frequent color changes. In this segment, we’ll look at a new way to address those issues.

“Reduce Downtime” is the mantra in every manufacturing operation. But where are you supposed to get that reduction from?

The demand for coil coating has increased significantly, yet there remains excess capacity in the marketplace, so being a strong global competitor is a challenge. These truths have changed the metal coating industry, with downward price pressure making it more difficult than ever to stay profitable and successful.

In typical industrial coating and coil coating process, drums – partial or full – are brought to the line at the beginning of a job. This is where it all begins. As the coating is consumed, empty drums are taken from the line. Empty drums are the goal. They are easy and relatively inexpensive to dispose of. In fact, many coating suppliers have recycling programs set up to make the process even easier.

Custom color orders place unique demands on coil coaters – and it seems that virtually all of them consume time. Let’s look at the three ways that custom colors suck up available run time from your operation:

1. Cleaning

You need only look around as you walk through the city to know that modern architecture involves more colors than ever before – a trend that shows no sign of diminishing anytime soon.

Often, these are customized corporate colors to immediately identify the occupant (John Deere Green, Coke Red, or Pepsi Blue anyone?). More and more, architects are constructing these buildings from pre-coated steel and aluminum coil as a means of achieving these strict color requirements.