By Mike Kelly, chief customer officer, Allied UV
Reshoring in America is alive and well. There are significant reshoring activities ongoing today, as US manufacturing entities accelerate their in-country execution strategies, including the expansion of their US manufacturing presence/footprint. With this on-going manufacturing reshoring, current marketplace realities remain, including the following:
- Very competitive marketplace
- Increasing customer requirements/needs
- Improved sustainability solutions
- Increasing speed of change
- Challenging political environment
Overall, manufacturing goals have been consistent over the past several years. These goals focus on driving process efficiencies, manufacturing an improved product (exceeding customers’ needs), focusing on workplace safety (EH&S), improving the sustainability footprint (“being green”) and delivering an improved Return on Investment (ROI).
Now, the challenge is how to reshore manufacturing capacity in a very quick manner. UV coating technology empowers this reshoring of manufacturing expansion with the following:
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Figure 2. UV Vacuum LED-cure Tube Line, Total length – Single color ~ 11 feet; Quick color change – Multiple colors ~ 15 feet Faster production speeds through instant coating curing (see Figure 1)
- Smaller physical footprint, energy costs and quality costs (see Figure 2)
- Cleaner process with no emissions or VOCs (see Figure 3)
Advantages to a Multiple-Coating Strategy
Most customers have a single coating strategy (i.e. powder, waterbased, UV, etc.). Customers now are asking, “Is a single coating strategy good for my business?” In reality, a multiple-coating strategy offers the opportunity to evaluate, innovate, optimize and deliver ROI to the bottom line. A single-type coating operation can cause bottlenecks and inefficiencies, and it does not offer the system efficiencies and flexibility that multi-coating solutions offer.
Coatings and process technologies have evolved significantly over the past years. UV and powder coating suppliers have common goals for their customers, as outlined in Table 1, and can complement each other.
The ‘Sweet Spot’ for UV Curing Solutions
It is critical that the manufacturer understands the “sweet spots” for UV curing solutions:
- High-volume discrete parts where the part profile is “simplistic” and instant cure is required
- Easily handled/coated and cured. No environmental emissions – No VOCs or HAPs
- Any linear process with segments or continuous substrate that require high production speeds and small physical footprint. Plus, sustainability – No environmental emissions – No VOCs or HAPs
- Coating of temperature-sensitive substrates/compositions
Figure 4 illustrates a recent customer study where the customer was powder-coating long substrate pieces for fencing. This required significant material handling, the inefficient use of a powder booth, etc. The solution? Utilize a UV process to off-load inefficient work pieces from the powder booth.
The overall benefits of off-loading the tube from powder production and incorporating UV coating systems include the following:
- Faster: Production output is significantly increased; color-change capable
- Smaller: Energy savings are realized by incorporate LED curing; 12-15-feet linear footprint; minimal WIP/quality rejects
- Cleaner: No VOCs or HAPs; ROHS compliant
Conclusion
Both powder and UV are competitive coating technologies. For sure, powder coatings have distinct application advantages, and UV coatings have distinct application advantages. In some industries or applications, both coating technologies can be utilized, with the overall goal of customer ROI.
Michael Kelly is the chief customer officer with AlliedUV. He can be reached at email: mkelly@allieduv.com, www.allieduv.com or (248) 515-9240.
