A thorough efficiency assessment of the current process
When we first met Harvey George, they were using 2-pack polyurethane coatings throughout. This product had been used for years with no issues, and was providing an excellent finish in terms of the overall feel for the product, but with massive growth in the business the 3 sprayers simply couldn’t keep up with production demand. Harvey George took the decision to invest in an automated spray line to to address this, and we were asked to provide a solution that would access the efficiency of automated spraying while retaining the current topcoat initially to ease transition
Testing of a hybrid system suitable for PU topcoats
From our investigation and research meetings with Harvey George, they had a short term and long term plan - the short term goal was to setup a system that allowed them to increase production by sealing and priming all units via the automated spray line, whilst maintaining the existing final build and topcoat stage. We crunched the numbers and found that if the current 2-pack solvent coatings were used via the auto line, the downtime with the pot life and cleaning regime made this option not cost effective.
Our solution was to introduce our single pack water-based polyurethane sealer and primer. This meant that the client could seal and prime everything down the autoline, with all the advantages of simple flushing with water, no activators, no pot life, no thinners etc. Secondly, by selecting a polyurethane compatible product they were still able to hand spray in their 2-pack PU topcoat to maintain the current finish.
Stepping stone to facilitate the move to 100% water-based coatings
The next stage for the client is to look at transitioning all of their topcoats to a single pack water-based product and therefore being 100% water-based throughout. Here we are testing various products from our range to determine what best fits the client’s production environment and the high moisture & chemical (perfume etc) situations that vanity units are typically exposed to.
By already making the move on the sealer and primer, they have enabled production to access two thirds of the transition benefits, and can begin to push forward with the Health & Safety and marketing advantages that a full water-based system can provide them with.
