PAINT & POWDER
Full automation ‘ Batch 1 ’ – Powder coating for production of entrance door panels
Conversion from production-line based combination of automated and manual coating to flexible robot coating
OBUK is one of those hidden success stories of which there are so many . It may not be a brand that springs instantly to mind , but this is a company of specialists whose outstanding reputation in its own sector extends far beyond the frontiers of Germany . The company and its 160 employees manufacture entrance door panels in Oelde , Germany , and have recently invested in a new powder coating plant using the latest application engineering from Nordson . The following is a report on the company ’ s early experiences with the new powder application .
From a purely technical point of view , the door to a building is something which has to fulfil multiple functions simultaneously . It forms the boundary separating the inside from the outside , protecting the people who live behind it from the effects of climate , noise and unwanted sights , as well as from crime . More than that though , a door also expresses the aesthetic visions of the builder or owner and acts as a kind of “ visiting card ” for homes or commercial buildings . Thus , the value of a door presenting an individual image has become correspondingly important .
“ In effect , every one of our entrance door panels is unique ,” explained Henrik Wendt , Operations Manager at the Oelde factory . “ Our door panels are genuinely manufactured to order and then supplied to installers both at home and abroad .” In fact , although OBUK uses the slogan “ Doors for life ”, they do not produce complete , ready-to-fit doors , but rather just the leaves - the part of the door that actually swings , and which are fitted into door frames by carpenters on site . “ Of course , though , the door leaf itself is a vital design component in terms of the form and function of a door .”
Customers set enormously great standards by this . “ In fact ,” Wendt reveals , “’ only ’ the normal standards for quality of facade really need to apply to the surface features of a door , but customers actually seek out their door in a well-lit door studio and expect its looks to be flawless , as they would for their car or the glossy surfaces of their kitchens .” Indeed , although more than 40,000 of them are made every year , a substantial amount of manual craftsmanship goes into each door , whether made from aluminium , plastic or glass , for example , when the glass has irregular light transmitting panels which are framed in delicate stainless steel . “ This can only be achieved economically if we make those processes which do not require such craftsmanship as completely and efficiently automated as possible ,” as the operations manager knows all too well .
Versatility of products , even down to a production batch of just one item , requires a high degree of flexibility
Faced with the necessity of meeting a higher demand in customer requirements more efficiently , OBUK decided last year to replace their powder coating facility with a brand new state-of-the-art system .
“ The old coating plant had been in use since 2005 , although it was already using Nordson HDLV dense phase technology .
We had three automatic spray guns and one manual one from the first generation and the whole system had run for 12 years without fault . The new robot-assisted version , though , is just so much faster . We urgently needed some capacity enhancements because , as a successful business , we must respond to our own growth and also need to accommodate seasonal peaks in production . Where we were previously coating about 220 door panels per week , it is now 600 , sometimes more !” Operations Manager Wendt also added , “ At OBUK we consciously focus on flexibility of manufacturing , and for quality reasons , we do not sub-contract to other coating firms during peak times , but complete all our orders in-house . For this reason , with the high degree of individualisation we offer , where our customers can even configure their requirements on the internet , and we build it as a one-off job , speed and flexibility are essential to our continued existence .”
34 SEPTEMBER 2021 read online : www . surfaceworld . com