5 Reasons to Say 'Yes' to Automated Paint Lines and Robots

Though often considered expensive, automation can bring many benefits to your industrial finishing operation that far outweigh the costs.

The five primary reasons that dominate factory automation conversations involve cost, quality, waste, flexibility, and workforce.

Automation and robotic technology is not as expensive as you think, and is decreasing every year. The initial price might still seem hefty, but automating a manufacturing process will increase output while reducing costs and continue to provide benefits for years to come.

To stay competitive, manufacturers can’t afford to have variation in product quality, especially when it comes to painting. Robots can ensure that the spray gun parameters and spraying motion is exactly the same each time, which increases quality.

Even the most skilled painters can’t ensure that type of consistency and precision for each part. Better consistency means less wasted material (which brings us to the next point).

Automation can reduce material consumption by up to 30 percent, thanks to the accuracy of robots. Add a plural component proportioner like the ProMix PD, which mixes material close to the gun, and reduce waste even more.

Still not enough? Add electrostatic spray guns to the mix and boost your transfer efficiency (which eliminates even more material waste)!

Robots can easily be reprogrammed to do new jobs. Why create a new fixture when a robot can make adjustments on the fly? This flexibility not only saves time during change-overs, it also saves money.

Automation also provides flexibility to change materials and colors more frequently, allowing you to simplify your production planning.

Robots don’t punch out when the whistle blows and they don’t care if they have to work 24/7. In fact, they can do the work of three employees (3 shifts at 8 hours per day). For this reason, labor and overhead are usually the largest drivers of savings.

Robotic painting benefits the workforce in other ways. When robots do repetitive (not to mention boring) tasks, it reduces on-the-job injuries and job dissatisfaction. Robots can also remove our most valued asset (our people) from dangerous jobs, allowing them to focus on skilled labor jobs that require decision-making and judgment (something robots don’t do as well).

 

There’s no doubt that automation can save manufacturers money, far exceeding the implementation costs. Companies that don’t think they can afford robotic painting should look again.