Products Finishing

OCT 2017

Products Finishing magazine is the No. 1 industrial finishing publication in the world. We keep our readers informed about the latest news and trends in plating, painting, powder coating, anodizing, electrocoating, parts cleaning, and pretreatment.

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24 OCTOBER 2017 — PFonline.com installed, he says, because it takes time to see how transfer efficiencies are developing and what minor adjustments are needed in the first several weeks and months of use. Those adjustments often don't happen. "It is so much better to come back six months or one year after a system is started and really optimize how it is run," he says. "For Mauser, we had a five-year track record to work with." Romer's first step was to measure how much paint the shop was using, weighing the paint filters at the end of each production shift and charting how steadily the weight dropped as the system began getting optimized. Romer says the filters were weighing in at 30 pounds when he started the audit, but by the end, they weighed less than 20 pounds, signifying a significant drop in waste and an improvement in efficiency. "It was probably even more of a savings because, while that may be 10 pounds of paint, most of the solvent and water was gone from the filters, so it was a lot more," he says. "It's hard to see exactly where savings are taking place." Sames Kremlin had seen this before, Romer says, citing as another example a California door maker that was running its doors through the paint line three times to get proper coverage. After an audit, that plant changed the set points of its guns and was able to get the required coverage in just one pass through the system. Changing Habits DiFonzo said the paint operators at Mauser were aware that changes had been made to the equipment setup over the years and were very welcoming of an audit that would help improve coating performance. "My team was great in how they approached this," he says. "They want to get things right the first time, and they didn't feel challenged by Steve coming in here. He spent a lot of time with them in the paint booth and on the line to fine-tune everything. It was a great opportunity to work with another set of eyes, and my people accepted that challenge." Romer said the key to finding discrepancies and eventu- ally changing operators' habits is to invest time with each of them to see how they perform their jobs. "You can walk in and make four or five recommenda- tions and then walk out, and nothing will change," he says. "It takes time to understand all the nuances of the line and the operators, and get it in sync with the equip- ment. That is the goal." The audit revealed that Mauser's spray times and pres- sures weren't being run properly, and the viscosity of the paint being applied was off as well. As it turned out, the gun settings were also wrong. "What I have seen over time is that most of the original parameters set in place float away over the first 12 months," AmericanPlatingPower.com P: 239.275.5877 F: 239.275.4959 Redesigned MSA Tower Has Enhanced Power Capabilities IN STOCK Availability Expandable from 1,500 Amps to 7,500 Amps Stacking Modules for Easy Installation Automatic Load Sharing Extremely Small Footprint To increase power just add a module! One Stop Source for Spare Parts All Makes and Models! Circuit Boards SCRs Diodes Fuses Economical Price EXPANDABLE LIQUID

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