Automation Cleans Up Inefficient Mess for Equipment Finisher

CUSTOMER: Heavy-duty lift truck equipment finisher

GRACO EQUIPMENT: Intelligent Paint Kitchen, E-Flo DC 4-Ball Piston Pump

CHALLENGE: The maintenance manager at a heavy-duty lift truck equipment finisher was left with someone else’s mess. The paint room supervisor had designed a paint kitchen for a 24-hour operation, only to leave when production changed to five days a week.

With no one taking ownership of the paint room, inefficiency took over.

• Friday afternoons, the paint room attendant shut down the paint circulation, air compressor and pneumatic agitators.
• Monday mornings, they lost at least six carriers of parts and more than an hour of production time, because material had settled in the paint lines over the weekend.

Circulating the paint on the weekends meant running a 500-horse power (HP) air compressor. The energy cost savings seemed to outweigh the cost of lost parts.

SOLUTION: The maintenance manager consulted his local distributor, who wasn’t sure how to handle the situation. The equipment they had was sound; it just didn’t provide the flexibility they needed.

Their Graco account representative offered an out-of-the-box solution. The Intelligent Paint Kitchen, powered by the E-Flo DC 4-Ball Piston Pump, could allow them to reduce downtime, save on energy costs, and remotely monitor the paint room. Some of their existing equipment could even be repurposed in the new set up.

RESULTS: The Intelligent Paint Kitchen automated the paint room and made their production schedule more flexible. Electric equipment avoided air compressor costs, and allowed them to keep the paint circulating during non-production times.

With presets and remote monitoring controlling the paint room, efficiency is the new norm.

• Friday afternoons, the paint room attendant sets equipment on sleep mode.
• Monday mornings, production starts smoothly without loss of parts, downtime or rework.  

With the help of remote monitoring, the maintenance manager now spends less time with production supervision. Their newfound efficiency allows them to take on and scale back production as needed without overextending their resources.