Industry 4.0
develops solutions that use proven mass production methods to manufacture
customized products – in extreme cases with a
batch size of 1. In that context, personal color selection is playing an
increasingly important role in many markets – and also posing new
challenges for powder coating operations. With its HDLV pumps, Nordson’s
highly efficient dense phase technology is available from manual application to
fully automated, robot-controlled coating systems: a perfect example of
pioneering coating technology that combines maximum productivity and
flexibility with optimum profitability.
In the 1910s, when a
journalist timidly asked why the Model T only came in one color, Henry Ford
replied with the now famous phrase: “Every customer can have his car painted any color they want
as long as it's black.”
The journalist
purportedly let it go at that, and for the millions of people who bought the
first large-scale production automobile manufactured in mass quantities, the
importance accorded individual color selection also paled in comparison with
the high practical benefit provided at a low price: When the last “Tin
Lizzie” rolled off the
production line in 1926, black remained the only color option.
Since the days of Industry 2.0 –
just like after what eventually came to be known as the age of mass production
that Henry Ford helped launch – the demands of
customers have changed dramatically. Today it goes without saying that they
configure even the most complex technical devices to match their strictly
personal preferences. Cars are still a good example: At the height of the
current wave of automation driven by platforms and modules (Industry 3.0), the VW Group offers 156
different steering wheels, an Opel Astra can be ordered in 360 different
combinations of engines and optional equipment (while a 3-Series BMW is
available in 453 different configurations), and there is a Maserati
Quattroporte with over 4 million variants –
to say nothing of the variation that can be achieved through combinations. “All
together, the number of different ways we can combine components is 10 raised
to the 20th power,” according to the
Head of Complexity Management at Audi, Klaus Alders, who was quoted at the
time. And the Variant Manager at BMW, Franz Decker, even estimates the number
of options available to him as “10 raised to the 32nd
power.”
Customization in its
ultimate form: Batch size = 1
The more product
individuality a manufacturer accords its customers, the greater the resulting
complexity costs. And those costs were precisely what Henry Ford so
successfully fought against.
That’s
the way things were – till now.
The smart factory or Industry 4.0 –
the great transformation that has already taken hold of production and work
processes and is attracting the attention of about half of all German companies
– has become a top priority, above all
in the manufacturing sector. It aims to maximize production flexibility by
seamlessly networking people, machines, systems and services. Industry 4.0 is characterized by
sensory-perceptive and intelligent machines (artificial intelligence) arranged together and with others in a
continuous exchange of data (Internet of
Things). Their objective is to achieve “individually
customized mass production” (mass customization), i.e. to apply the
beneficial effects of mass production (economies of scale, learning curve
advantages) toward the manufacture of extremely individual products. Ideally,
even the customer is integrated into this network, selecting their
configuration online to control the machinery that then produces their desired
product right before their eyes.
This enables the
manufacturer to produce a previously unimaginable range of products without
having to maintain uneconomically large component inventories. And ultimately,
why not Batch size 1 –
i.e. a product produced only once for
a single customer?
More economical
coating as a step toward mass customization
With many articles of
everyday life, a personally selected color expresses the individual taste of
the owner. In the case of supplied parts and technical components, painting is
indicative of origin (manufacturer’s
color) and underscores the intended quality appeal.
Since demands for the
customizability of products are rising right along with more intense
competition and cost pressures, the cost-effectiveness and flexibility of
coating systems are playing an increasingly decisive role. The solution lies in
the streamlining of processes (lean
manufacturing) and the minimization of downtimes, while effective material
usage also helps reduce production costs and raise profit margins.
This also places high
demands on an equipment system, because the investment in a state-of-the-art
powder coating system is amortized by
o
fast coating processes and high output
o
uniformly high coating quality and film thickness without rework
o
a high degree of automation requiring minimal intervention by operating
personnel
o
economical operation that consumes a minimum of resources
o
careful application of materials
o
the ability to change colors rapidly –
even more than once during a shift
o
fast and thorough cleaning of the equipment
o
easy maintenance, and
o
extremely durable components.
In order to take full
advantage of flexibility and economic potentials, it is important not only to
optimize individual components, but also to fully integrate and harmonize
entire powder coating systems. That means powder materials, lines, pumps, guns,
extraction technology and booths.
Nordson dense phase
technology: Integrated, efficient, flexible
The key to Nordson’s
high-efficiency powder coating is dense phase technology with its
characteristic HDLV (High Density Low
Velocity) pumps, which has dramatically improved both processes and
results.
Enabling powder
material savings of up to 45%, this technology operates at much lower air
pressure, gives users accurate control over the quantity of powder coating
supplied and allows them to work with even greater precision. Instead of a
conventional Venturi pump, it uses a two-chamber pump in which four
air-operated pinch valves open and close in pairs. As soon as an inlet value
opens, the discharge valve closes, powder is drawn in and stored. In the next
work cycle, the powder is forced out of the first chamber while the second
chamber is being filled. This results in constant, linear powder delivery,
ensuring high application efficiency with low powder consumption –
and maintains that performance for extended periods under an extremely wide
range of settings, even when processing thin film powders.
Nordson’s
HDLV pumps are virtually maintenance-free, which means they also boost quality,
flexibility and production benefits over the long term. The only components
subject to wear are the pinch valves, which are designed for a service life up
to 4,000 hours. They regularly last well beyond that figure, however, thereby
minimizing expensive maintenance and downtime.
When used in
combination with the specially developed Nordson powder guns, HDLV pumps offer
even greater benefits. These include reduced color contamination, more uniform
coating thickness and better coating of Faraday cages. Color changes are also
especially fast and the self-cleaning feature keeps them trouble-free.
Hoses with a diameter
of just 6 millimeters supply the guns and produce soft spray pattern. This
adheres better, thereby raising application efficiency, facilitating the
coating of complex geometries, minimizing the amount of work required,
increasing the production rate and reducing powder consumption.
The powder
application rate is easily regulated by means of the control system, so no
mechanical adjustments are required.
The technology is
ideally suited for fully automated production and helps achieve even the most
ambitious lean manufacturing objectives.
Intelligent control,
essentially independent of operator qualifications
Equipped with many
sensors, a modern powder coating application system determines all relevant
control parameters for material supply, application and booth, and continuously
provides production and system status data to a central control system. Integrated
network interfaces make it possible to monitor the powder application and
greatly facilitate remote diagnosis.
An industrial
touchscreen enables control of all coating process parameter, such as supply
and atomizer air settings, electrostatics, and gun stroke and triggering, as
well as color change sequences. Preset and widely adaptable programs make it
easy to optimize performance for an extremely wide range of products and powder
materials. Last but not least, such a highly automated system lowers the
qualifications required of the equipment operators.
Whether manual, automatic or fully
robot-controlled, Nordson’s perfectly harmonized dense phase components provide powder
coaters with the right technology to coat even the smallest batch sizes
flexibly and economically and to take full advantage of the opportunities that “Industry 4.0” offers.
At this year’s
PaintExpo, from April 17-20, 2018, (Messe Karlsruhe, Hall 2, Booth 2440)
Nordson will show the appropriate coating solutions with a variety of dense
phase applications and end user products.
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