The Benefits of Using a Powder Coating Line
Powder coating is one of the most popular finishing techniques available for metal, plastics, and other materials. It is durable, cost-effective, and versatile.
Choosing a powder coating solution over paint is often an easy decision for fabrication and manufacturing companies, but businesses must make another decision before they invest in a system. They must choose a manual or automated powder coating solution. An automated powder coating line offers many advantages for companies that need to keep pace with quick turnaround times without sacrificing quality.
Benefits of an Automated Powder Coating Line
Manual powder coating spray booths allow workers to manually prep, coat, dry, and cure items in batches. They work well for the occasional powder coating project, but they can’t keep up with the demands of large-scale production. Automated powder coating lines, on the other hand, act as a production line for the powder paint process. Each round of coating pulls a new batch of items into the production line to speed up the overall output time.
Benefits of an automated powder coating line include:
Efficiency
Automated powder coating lines use conveyor systems to transition parts from stage to stage of the automated system. Companies can choose to automate all or part of the powder coating process for better control and quality assurance. Some businesses need to manually control part of the process to accommodate customer requests. Automated systems setups can accommodate both routine production demands and improve turnaround times for special requests.
Traditional spray booths can only move a limited number of parts through the process. Automation takes the legwork out of the process for better efficiency across the board.
Uniformity
Powder coating offers more uniform results than paint regardless of the application method. Automated systems can offer slightly more uniform results in some cases, because each batch sits in the same position and receives the same treatment at each stage of the process. Manual powder coating activities can result in skipped steps or missed coating areas.
Waste Reduction
Many manual powder coating booths operate with a spray-to-waste system. The excess powder is not reclaimable and leads to unnecessary wastefulness. Automated powder coating lines with powder reclamation systems can almost eliminate waste from the coating process.
Saving
Automated powder coating lines may cost a little more than manual systems upfront, but they can save money over time. Companies can use automated systems to reduce the number of professionals needed to maintain powder coating output levels. Companies that save money on reclaimed powder, improved uptime, and fewer quality control issues often pass along these benefits to the customer in the form of faster turnaround times, improved performance, and improved value.
Powder coating is a great way to ensure uniformity among products and eliminate the health hazards associated with conventional painting methods. Modern businesses must consider their output needs, budget, and application to determine if an automatic powder coating line can deliver a better ROI than a small-scale manual system.
The team at Swanton Welding uses an efficient and automated powder coating line to deliver products with exceptionally durable and visually appealing coatings. The system features a 30-inch by 60-inch opening, a 120-inch load bar, and an automated conveyor line process. We can handle coating requests for products of many sizes. Contact us today at (419) 826-4816 to learn more about our powder coating system and capabilities.
