Upgrade Advances Paint Line Production and Innovation

CUSTOMER: Architectural products finisher

GRACO EQUIPMENT: ProBell rotary bell atomizers

A large architectural metals finishing company provides high performance paint and anodized finishes for extruded aluminum. After switching from Nordson RA-20 rotary atomizers to Graco ProBell rotary bell atomizers, they realized a significant performance boost and sizeable cost savings. This made their automated paint line ready for more innovation.

CHALLENGE: The senior technical engineer knew the switch to Graco ProBell rotary bell atomizers had been a great decision. Yet, each shift’s paint line team had to clean the air caps several times due to paint buildup. Taking time out to clean air caps was frustrating for this busy operation that runs 24/7 and performs a wide variety of tasks.

SOLUTION: The paint line teams agreed to test Graco’s next-generation ProBell air caps. The painting crews for all three shifts immediately noticed far less paint buildup on the rotary bell atomizers – so much so that they did not have to pause production for cleaning.

The third shift crew that’s in charge of cleaning found the new air caps easy to clean. Painters simply wiped off the buildup. In addition, they did not need to change out paint booth covers as much.

The second shift crew found they could lower the fluid flow rates. This helped them use less paint to produce good finish quality.

RESULTS: By continuing to choose Graco, the company has taken its paint line to the next level.

• Since each shift doesn’t have to take time out for air cap cleaning, paint crews can focus more on production.
• As parts with intricate exposure move from automated spraying to the manual paint booth, they need less touchup.
• Less paint buildup on the new air caps makes it easier to keep the rotary bell atomizers and the paint booths clean.