Painting is a specialty skill . It is physically demanding and painters must determine the best way to approach each batch of components to maximize speed , minimize paint waste , and assure compliance with a variety of quality requirements . Painters use adjustable HVLP ( High Volume Low Pressure ) spray guns to apply the paint . Paint thickness requirements vary and painters need to be able to use their finely tuned visual sense and muscle memory to maintain the correct paint thickness . A typical primer paint thickness is . 3 to . 8 mils (. 0003 to . 0008 ). Stringent quality requirements include consistent paint thickness on all surfaces and edges . Part configuration that includes deep machined pockets , holes , slots , bores , and formed flanges makes aerospace painting extremely difficult . A paint simulator is the perfect technology for building painter confidence , skill , and knowledge – and does it all without interrupting the stream of current work in a paint booth , wasting expensive paint or adding to the management of controlled hazardous waste . The simulator provides real-time statistical feedback to the painter and scores the outcome of the simulation based on pre-established criteria for transfer efficiency , time on part , paint waste , and nonconformances such as uneven paint thickness , consistency of coverage , runs and sags .
To support the upswing in aerospace manufacturing over the next several years , Skills Inc . is planning to double the number of painters it employs as it opens more shifts and expands its capacity . Past practices of one painter training another painter in a booth with actual paint was inefficient , time consuming and costly . It could take many months to bring a new painter up to speed .
50 NORTHWEST AEROSPACE NEWS
When technical experts at Skills Inc . learned that computer processing power was now powerful enough to create a VR paint simulator for aerospace coatings , they jumped at the opportunity to learn more . After several demonstrations , the company was convinced that utilizing a VR headset and a spray gun controller – that matched those used within the company – would bring value to the paint training process and it was time to move forward with the purchase .
Skills Inc ., an organization adept at partnerships , purchased the VirtualPaint System and simultaneously applied for a Job Skills Program grant through the State of Washington Workforce Board .
The training grant , administered through Green River College , allowed Skills Inc . to work with Impact Washington and one of its Lean Manufacturing consultants , Ben Morley . Ben ’ s knowledge of TWI ( Training Within Industry ), a highly structured training methodology for developing and coaching technical skills , was viewed as a critical element of the overall virtual reality technology integration strategy .
Upon receiving TWI training , the painters worked together as a team to identify best practices that would be built into the VirtualPaint simulation training modules .