Powder Coating System Case Study

BATCH POWDER COATING SYSTEM ALLOWS DEVON LUBE CENTER EQUIPMENT TO HANDLE GROWTH

Devon Industries provides quality equipment solutions to the fast lube market. They specialize in the design, manufacture and distribution of a wide range of efficiency-oriented products to clients in the United States, Canada and around the world. Some of their customers include: Jiffy Lube, Hertz, Grease Monkey, Love’s Travel Stops and other fast oil change experts. Their products include: fluid exchangers, lube dispensers, storage racks, tire rotation lifts, pit catwalks, pit safety and other equipment. www.devonlube.com   

Devon Industries’ challenges were: 

• Growth 
• Control of process 
• Control of delivery 

Devon Industries had been finishing their equipment’s components with liquid coating and powder coating. Liquid coating was performed at their facility while the powder coating was performed by an outsourced powder coating company. Their business was growing approximately 20% yearly and even though their outsourced powder coating company was providing them with a quality product, Devon wanted to have better control of their process and delivery. They enlisted the help of Spray Tech Systems, Inc., to design and install a pass-through powder coating batch system. 

Spray Tech Industrial Solutions provided: 

• Valuable Communication 
• Part Volume 
• Part Projections 
• ROI 
• Powder Coating System Design 
• Pre-Treatment 
• Vendor Selection 

Spray Tech Industrial Solutions evaluated Devon’s powder coated parts, part volume and projections for the future. Kent Carlisle, technical sales engineer at Spray Tech Industrial Solutions, designed a 120’ manual pull batch powder coating system with opposing collectors for 2 spray operators. Kent identified the part window, or “box”, which helped determine the size and layout of the equipment. With his vast experience and years in the industry, Devon was assured that Spray Tech Industrial Solutions was looking out for their best interest and not just trying to sell them their products. 

In addition to the line design, Kent and his team reviewed pre-treatment providers and assisted with the pre-treatment selection. The Spray Tech Industrial Solutions team also worked with Devon in narrowing the equipment vendors. They focused on selecting vendors who provided the best long-term service and support for Devon. 

Kelly Lykins, President of Devon Industries, stated, “The experience and open communication at Spray Tech Industrial Solutions helped make this transition an easy one. They lead us through this project with good questions about our product and current processes which resulted in a solution that was a good fit for us.”   

After the layout was designed and the equipment was selected, Spray Tech Industrial Solutions enlisted the help of PROEM Solutions who brought key industry resources for color matching their liquid coating to powder coating while also providing them with the best fit for their applications. After the client selected Diamond Vogel, both Spray Tech Systems and PROEM Solutions collaborated with Diamond Vogel to prepare Devon personnel for production. Diamond Vogel was able to provide a delivery schedule that was scalable as Devon phased out the current supplier as they brought more of their own products in-house. 

After the equipment had been installed and factory start-ups had been performed by the equipment vendors, PROEM Solutions was brought in again to help with another phase of the project. Ensuring a smooth transition to live production, PROEM Solutions provided hands-on training and developed line density strategies. PROEM Solutions trained in-house painters on the techniques of applying powder coating. PROEM monitored the new team of powder coaters at Devon coating their own parts. They showed them how to monitor and test mil level non-destructively. In addition, they ran Datapaqs in the oven to ensure the temperature and time in the oven were accurate. 

“Being new to powder coating was challenging, and we wanted to ensure our quality was up to our standards. We knew we required outside expertise and Spray Tech Industrial Solutions, Inc. exceeded my expectations,” declared Lykins. 

Spray Tech Industrial Solutions, Inc. is a distributor of industrial finishing systems and equipment. Spray Tech Industrial Solutions specialize in the following: liquid paint, powder coating, sealants and adhesives. Electrostatic and liquid coating are their specialty which allows them to help transition liquid painters to understanding powder coating. Spray Tech Industrial Solutions provides everything from turnkey systems, electrostatic guns, plural component mixing, replacement parts to wears and spares. Spray Tech Industrial Solutions’ corporate office is in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and a regional office in Louisville, Kentucky.