The Challenge
Crown Group Ecorse, a Tier 2 supplier of painted automotive parts, needed to increase line capacity and speed while maintaining a superior quality finish on their automotive parts.
The Way They Were
The Crown Group used traditional air drying methods to dry all of their parts. In the first pass, parts were primed then allowed to advance past remaining booths where no additional paint was applied as the paint solvents fully dried. During the second pass the basecoat and clear coats were applied.
The problem was that if the clear coat was applied to a basecoat that was still wet, solvent popping, paint sags and striking would occur because not enough time was allowed for the solvent to flash out. This would sometimes result in an unacceptable finish.
The painting flow path at the Crown Group consisted of:
Pass One:
Booth 1 - Prime coat applied - air dry only
Booth 2 - Basecoat (or color coat) applied - air dry onlyPass Two:
Booth 3 - First coat of clear coat applied - either manually or automatically
Booth 4 - Second coat of clear coat applied - by hand only
To remain competitive in their industry, Crown Group had to raise production rates yet continue to meet increasing customer quality specifications.
The Solution
Crown management formed a team with Detroit Edison and a reputable electric infrared equipment manufacturer. This team of professionals focused on the paint drying process and was able to effect changes that increased line speed and production capacity.
Test demonstrations were set up by the electric infrared equipment manufacturer to show Crown the benefits of adding electric infrared. As a result, Crown installed infrared elements to bake and cure the primer coat. In addition, more electric infrared elements were installed to flash off most of the wet basecoat solvents allowing a greater amount of clear coat to be applied. All of this is now accomplished in a single pass instead of two passes.
The Results
- Line speed increased from 12 to 14 ft/hr
- Scrap and rework reduced by 25%
- First run acceptance increased by 40%
- Topcoat cure time reduced by 15%
- Total production time saved - 2 hrs/day
Find out how you can make our energy experts a part of your team. Call your assigned account representative today.
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