• Increased production 33% YOY
• Saved 24,000 sq. ft. of floorspace over other alternatives, now used for additional manufacturing production
• Dramatically reduced downtime and injuries over the previous system
• Saved significantly on labor and outsourcing of larger parts

Hytrol History

Every year, Hytrol, a leading conveyor manufacturer in the material handling industry, celebrates Loberg Day. In honor of Hytrol’s late founder, the executive leadership team at Hytrol take a break from their usual routine of meetings and strategic planning and spend the day working on the manufacturing floor with their staff. On a recent Loberg Day, Chris Glenn, Hytrol Vice President of Operations, chose to work on the company’s powder coat and paint finishing system—its new IntelliFinishing turnkey finishing system.

“In the past, I’ve worked in fabrication and other areas, but this year I wanted to work in paint, so I loaded and unloaded parts all day,” said Glenn with a smile. “Everything was great that day. We saw really good productivity. I enjoyed it a lot. The IntelliFinishing system has been fantastic for us. I started out in sheet manufacturing 22 years ago, I’ve worked with monorail systems, and I’ve had some power and free system experience, but this is the best power & free type system I’ve ever been a part of.”

Before its installation of the IntelliFinishing system, Hytrol was utilizing an outdated power and free conveyor system. After evaluating potential replacement solutions for its old system, it was not a new power and free system that provided the most innovation solution at the most cost-effective price. Instead, it was IntelliFinishing, a turnkey finishing system that offers a revolutionary modular conveyance and control technology that provides ultimate flexibility and superior output. For Hytrol, the result of its migration from a traditional power and free conveyor to the IntelliFinishing system, was a 33% increase in productivity year-over-year, a positive return-on-investment, and higher employee satisfaction.

Freeing Up Floor Space with Intelligent Systems

IntelliFinishing is committed to customizing the planning and installation of all its finishing systems. For Hytrol, it helped to design an extremely compact solution that immediately freed up floor space on the Hytrol manufacturing floor. For maximum efficiency and cost savings, it even incorporated into the plan repurposing some components of the previous power and free system that still retained some value.

“IntelliFinishing designed our current solution around our existing booths,” said Glenn. “Now we have room for one more booth and an expansion that we’re planning for next year.”

The smaller footprint of its IntelliFinishing system does not mean Hytrol has less capacity. In fact, it can now accommodate heavier production parts than it ever could with its old power and free system.

“Our system can hold up to 1,000 pounds,” said Glenn. “With power and frees, you’re often limited in the weights you can put on the line. We now have greater capabilities to paint some pretty heavy equipment that we wouldn’t have been able to paint on the line before. We would have had to paint them manually in a small booth.”

Increasing Production 33% Year-Over-Year

Glenn estimates that since implementing the IntelliFinishing system, Hytrol’s overall production has increased year-over-year significantly.

“Our system has been a huge success. We wouldn’t be doing the volume we’re doing today. We’re up 33% over last year with the help of the system. We know we’re getting some parts off faster on the new system based on the speeds that we’re able to run, and we’re still not even at full capacity.”

Not only is Hytrol’s paint line more productive, but it is also producing a higher quality product.

“The quality of the product coming off the line is much, much better,” said Glenn. “We’re seeing about a seven or eight percent decrease in quality issues. We had so much turbulence in the old system, and we dealt with a lot of contamination.”

According to Glenn, IntelliFinishing’s decentralized drive system and the visibility it offers keeps production moving efficiently.

“With the IntelliFinishing system, if we get a carrier that’s hung up, we’re back up and running in no time,” You can’t back something up with a power and free system, but we can do that with the IntelliFinishing system. Plus, with its integrated controls, we can look anywhere in the system and see where a carrier is at, what color it’s going to be, what the drive signals are, or if we have a drive fault. The ability to go anywhere in the system and see those things is tremendous for us.”

Minimizing Downtime

Glenn estimates that with its former power and free system, Hytrol experienced a downtime of about 10 to 15%, which limited its productivity.

“We had jams every day with our old power and free system, which is typical of any power and free system I’ve ever been a part of,” said Glenn. “Downtime is still 5 to 10% even if it’s a brand new power and free system because you’ll have carrier hang-ups and different jams that you’re dealing with. With a power and free system, you have a continuous rate that your whole chain is fed. You can only speed the whole line up or down. With the IntelliFinishing system, you can slow things down based on the recipes that you have. We have some areas that are very hard to paint. With our old system, we would have to slow the whole chain down, which we couldn’t do in a lot of cases because of the throughput we needed, so we would de-dog a carrier and push it back into the booth to finish painting it. Now we can slow that part down or stop it in the booth when we need to.”

An Increase in Labor Productivity

Hytrol has also seen an improvement in its work-in-progress at assembly.

“Our first pass yields went up about 10% after implementing IntelliFinishing,” said Glenn. “A lot of it has to do with the pre-verification coming out of fabrication. You can see any of those carriers anywhere. You know exactly how many carriers you’ve got left on that particular card. We’re able to track that information so much better. Now, our assembly line staff can say, ‘I need this FO, when is it going to be ready?’ And we can look exactly where it is in the system and estimate when the part is going to come off.”

Glenn estimates that Hytrol’s staff is notably more productive using the IntelliFinishing system.

“We’re seeing about a 10 to 15% labor savings,” said Glenn. “We are using more labor because we have more lift stations and can paint in all three booths at the same time, which is something we were not able to do with our old system. However, if you look at our overall labor number today, compared to the volume we were producing previously, we’re able to maintain a lower percentage of labor based on production volume.”

Even more impressive, the Hytrol staff are exceeding their previous productivity rates working fewer days each week.

“With our previous system, we were working seven days a week,” recalls Glenn. “Now, we only work five to six days per week and the only reason we’re working so many Saturdays is just to support the other production areas. There have been several days this year that we were able to send some people home from our paint unit because we’ve done so well with the IntelliFinishing system.”

A Positive Return on Investment

Not only has the IntelliFinishing system allowed Hytrol to increase its production, but it has also reduced some of its ancillary costs.

“The cost of the oil for our old power and free chain was tremendous,” said Glenn. “Our previous power and free system was 21 years old, so we had to put so much oil on it just to keep it running. With the IntelliFinishing system, we don’t need the expensive oil anymore. Also, the last year that we ran our old power and free system, we outsourced $1.6 million worth of powder. We had to send a truck to Memphis to have it painted. Now, we’ve brought all that work back in-house.”

Freedom from Conventional Power and Free Systems

For the paint system staff at Hytrol who are instrumental in the success of its operations, the transition from a conventional power and free system to the IntelliFinishing system required some initial adaption. However, having spent a year enjoying the greater productivity of the IntelliFinishing system, Glenn’s staff report they never want to go back to a conventional power and free system.

“There was a lot of apprehension at first, getting used to the HMIs, but now if you ask any of our employees who work on our paint system, they’d never want to go back. They are comfortable on the HMI’s now, and they like that they can look ahead to what carrier is coming and what color it is. They are excited about our future expansion and the other solutions we’re looking at.”

According to Glenn, IntelliFinishing’s commitment to customer service and its quality solutions are an important factor in Hytrol’s continued partnership with IntelliFinishing, a division of Kasa.

“IntelliFinishing has been great to work with. During the implementation, they were there for us every step of the way. IntelliFinishing (and Kasa) remind us a lot of Hytrol and how we support our customers. No matter what, we’re going make sure our customers are satisfied, and IntelliFinishing did that for us too.”

The beginning of any success story starts with an idea. About four years ago, the Albers brothers of Cheney, Kansas, came upon an opportunity to paint pulleys for a company that manufacturers agriculture equipment. The brothers developed a business plan based on the manufacturer’s need, and from there, Albers Finishing & Solutions was launched. New to the industry, the Albers brothers started their research online to find a finishing system that would meet their vision. Fortunately, they came across IntelliFinishing, and right away, they recognized an offering that was unique to the market, providing both part flexibility and high-quality outcomes. Here’s their story of finishing success.

Why a Unique Solution Was Imperative

When creating their infrastructure, the Albers had several design considerations relating to space and process requirements. They also knew that they needed a system that required less labor, providing cost-effective efficiency.

Bret Albers said, “We wanted an automated liquid paint system that would require only a couple of people to run it, fit in our space, and provide an excellent finish. We worked with IntelliFinishing from the start, and they helped us achieve our vision.”

How and Why the IntelliFinishing System Works for Albers

Meeting the Alber’s need for minimal labor, the IntelliFinishing system necessitates only two operators in full auto, and they mainly serve as loaders and unloaders. Once the pulleys or other parts are loaded, the carriers first hit the wash station and move on to the blow-off area. From there, they circle back around to the dry off oven, then head to the primer booth. In this booth, a robot paints each part.

Albers said, “Not only did IntelliFinishing integrate the programming of the robot with the system, but they also used spinners built by Albers on the carrier so each side of the product can be fully painted, requiring only one robot per booth.”

Offering maximized flexibility for parts of varying sizes, when products are larger than a matrix of pulleys, the carrier can back out of the booth and do a T-turn so that the other side of the part can be processed. After priming, parts head to the  top coat booth which features another robot.  Depending on the part parameters, the programming can be easily modified. However, the system also has the ability for manual painting as well.

“Often, part batches are of minimal quantity that doesn’t justify the need for reprogramming of the robots. For these loads, we simply place a person into the spacious booth to complete the painting,” Albers added.

After the paint is applied, the carriers move to a dual lane cure oven where heat can be adjusted depending on the thickness and size of parts. After curing, the carrier arrives at the load area where the finished product is unloaded.

In addition to its superior part adaptability and automation that requires less labor, the IntelliFinishing system also saved the company valuable floor space. There are two deadhead turns in the system, allowing carriers to turn in a smaller area. The  automated 3 stage wash and dry off ovens which run parallel to each other are much closer than typically possible with a chain system.

Albers added, “Our cure ovens are closer to our paint booth line, too. And should we need more capacity in the future, the system was also designed to be expandable—we can add additional paint booths in a line along the present line of booths, or other process equipment and functions as the need arises.”

More Unique Features of the Liquid Paint System

The IntelliFinishing Liquid Paint System created for Albers Finishing & Solutions runs with a friction-driven rotating tube, not a chain, allowing the system to run both forward and in reverse. Carriers can also stop at any point while the rest of the line moves through other processes. The modular washers have separate wash sections which can be programmed independently by part need. Advanced controls track, monitor, and guide each part through its specific process, offering both higher quality and leaner operations. Another bonus for the Albers is IntelliFinishing’s energy-efficient ovens which can save users up to 49% in energy costs versus non-insulated units.

Albers Brothers Reflect on Their System

The system has been in place now for a few years, and the Albers brothers are quite satisfied with their investment. In this time, the IntellFinishing system has allowed Albers Finishing & Solutions to deliver quality parts finishing while keeping costs at a minimum.

Albers said, “When we work with new parts, sometimes we have to play around with the recipe. With the IntelliFinishing system, we can easily move parts back into the booth without impacting other processes. This system does so many things a chain system cannot. In fact, if someone were to literally give me a completely free chain-based system rather than purchasing the IntelliFinishing system, I would not take it!”

“Since its initial installation,” Albers continues, “our business has grown, and IntelliFinishing has been right there to support us with new software controls and capabilities that will allow us to expand the system in pace with our growth. We look forward to continuing to work with IntelliFinishing as our business thrives.”

Does your business have a similar challenge? See how our Liquid Paint System works by watching our video. Then contact us to talk about how we can create a custom solution for you.

IntelliFinishing is a complete finishing systems provider. Our industrial finishing solution has been used in a variety of manufacturing industries including agriculture equipment, aerospace, automotive parts, military and defense equipment, and construction equipment

When you purchase an IntelliFinishing system, there are obvious and not so obvious ways you’ll save on your total cost of operation. Below, we’ve highlighted a few you might not suspect. 

The IntelliFinishing System Difference

An IntelliFinishing system is more likely to be very efficient in production throughput because downtime incidents are minimized while part density can be maximized. The key difference is our revolutionary modular conveyor (better than power and free) and smart control technology, which allows individual sections of the conveyor to move independently in both speed and direction throughout the entire system.  This allows each process area—be it wash, coatings, cure or delivery—to act independently of the rest of the system, delivering ultimate system flexibility to obtain the highest quality and throughput.

Upping the Uptime

IntelliFinishing system conveyors are rated at automotive industry standards, which are at 99% uptime or better. Compare this to existing or even new chain-based automated finishing systems where 80% or less is not atypical, and it doesn’t take long to justify your decision to go with a more flexible, yet more reliable system. To truly envision the impact of high uptime on a system, let’s say your system is being designed to process 20 carriers per hour. Assuming you hit this mark every hour a day for a year for two shifts per day, this would be about 80,000 carrier (or loadbars) in a year. With an IntelliFinishing system’s rated 1% decrease due to downtime, then you would process 79,200 carriers of parts in a year, or a loss of 800 carriers processed from rated average capacity due to downtime.

Now, in contrast, let’s say you’re using a comparable chain system instead. Optimistically, if the system allows for 92% uptime, you will only process 73,600 carriers. This translates into 5,600 fewer carriers per year. When this number is multiplied by the average value of your parts on a carrier—for this example, let’s say the value is $400—it translates into $2,240,000 more in parts processed by the IntelliFinishing system, simply due to better uptime.  Of course, to determine your exact savings, you will need to supply your own estimates of how much you will run per day and value per loadbar of parts. However, it can be a significant improvement to have a system with very low downtime versus any other option, often paying for the difference in system price in a relatively short period of time.

Revving Up Routes

Rather than trying to load items on a moving chain as with monorail systems, IntelliFinishing carriers stop during loading. Consequently, hung parts can be packed more tightly, thus increasing part density, and ultimately, throughput per hour on the line. After hanging the parts, the carrier will typically move to the next process at a relatively high rate of speed—depending on weight loads, this could be 30 to 60 fpm—until it catches up with loaded carriers in front of it. This also gives the loaders extra cycle time to load parts in the most efficient manner.

But just because carriers can move at fairly high speeds between processes, it doesn’t mean that an IntelliFinishing system set of parts on a carrier will experience significant part sway. Section motors that spin the friction tubes are VFD (Variable Frequency Drive) controlled, so they accelerate and decelerate more gently than power and free conveyors. This reduces part sway so that items are less likely to bump each other as they travel from process to process, potentially marring a finish, while allowing for a tighter hanging strategy and greater part density.

Since production and throughput are maximized due to part density, an IntelliFinishing system can often run for fewer hours or shifts than its chain-based competition, contributing to additional savings in manpower needs, as well as gas, electric and water usage.

Potential Gas Usage Savings 

The ovens we use on IntelliFinishing Systems (supplied by Midwest Finishing Systems) are not only extremely energy efficient due to their superior construction and high R-value, but also have an automatic low fire mode (1/12 usage). The low fire mode kicks into action whenever the system knows there will be no carriers arriving for a specific amount of time, and is programmed into the computer-controlled system based on the specific ovens, running temperatures, time estimates from load to cure and each step in-between. Common examples of when a low fire mode may help save gas usage are during employee breaks or due to upstream bottlenecks of products arriving for painting. 

Potential Electrical Usage Savings

With an IntelliFinishing system, it’s possible that your facility will experience savings on Peak Demand or Power Factor, beyond just Usage—speak to your utility company to determine your tariff structure. Regardless, an IntelliFinishing system can save you money on these two common elements of power usage.

• Peak demand, if and where applicable, is often a single 15-minute increment of time in any given month. It occurs when you reach your peak average usage (usually for the entire facility) for any applicable 15-minute usage periods within the month (some utilities use 20-minute increments).  Based on that 15-minutes of time, utilities will determine the monthly peak demand charges for your facility. In some regions, they may also apply ratchet charges for several months if you pass certain high thresholds of peak demand, all of which is typically laid out in the Utility’s tariff.

The point is, it can be thousands and thousands of dollars extra per month for peak demand caused by just one especially high 15-minute window, particularly if it triggers a ratchet clause. It’s common with traditional chain conveyors to turn the system on at the same time as all the other equipment in the plant, turning on all of the process equipment on the system simultaneously, or close to the same time. Therefore, peak demand will tend to be established each morning when “everything” gets turned on, including the paint system.

With your new IntelliFinishing system, you may see a decrease in peak demand. For instance, a plant can avoid some level of morning spike because IntelliFinishing’s low horsepower motors (typically either .5 or 1 hp depending on the weight classification) don’t turn on unless a carrier is present to be transported. Further, since they are on VFD’s, they ramp up slowly avoiding usage spikes. In other words, an IntelliFinishing system’s power demand is much lower and is dispersed throughout the day, unlikely to affect peak demand compared to other high-power, large drive chain systems.

• Power Factor is the ratio of the real power absorbed by the load to the apparent power flowing in the circuit. In general, older motors are less efficient in power factor when compared to newer motors; thus, you may see an increase in your facility’s overall power factor with a new IntelliFinishing system.

The way power factor is typically charged is when you’re below a certain high threshold power factor—let’s say 85% to 90% power factor—you get hit with an additional charge for low power factor.  If you happen to be just short of hitting the threshold now, an IntelliFinishing system may help you reach that limit. Every location and each facility will have its own unique power factor rating based on the total equipment they employ and the supply of energy from their utility. Power factor is a compelling element to investigate when comparing other systems against an IntelliFinishing system.

Potential Water Usage Savings 

Unlike a typical chain-based system that’s unable to tell if products are present or not, and therefore, the wash runs all day long while the chain is running, an IntelliFinishing wash (supplied by Midwest Finishing System) will only power up when a carrier is present. This results in significantly less total water usage than most other automated systems.

Minimal Maintenance Costs and Time 

An IntelliFinishing system has minimal maintenance needs, but when maintenance is required, it rarely affects system uptime due to the distributed motor/sectional design of the system. The most commonly replaced items are the roller wheels that rub against the friction tubes. These are rated for 40,000 hours of usage and can be replaced in seconds due to their simple design. In fact, on IntelliFinishing’s lighter weight system (up to 800 lbs per carrier), rollers can be exchanged even when the carrier is in use without significant impact on system throughput. Belts, chains, and occasionally, motors may need to be swapped out, but this occurs very rarely, and again, takes very little time to accomplish.

Further, owners of chain systems spend quite a bit per year on chain lubricant. With a chainless IntelliFinishing system, there’s no need for chain lubricant, resulting in less cost and no damage to finish due to the dripping of lubricant on parts in the wash or elsewhere, as well as no lubricant dripping on floors, potentially causing slips and falls. And of course, without a chain, there’s no need to adjust for chain stretch continually or to replace the chain every few years.

Safety First

IntelliFinishing customer Hytrol Conveyor Company reported to us a 50% decrease in safety incidents in their paint department after converting to an IntelliFinishing system. Previously, common safety issues plaguing the company included slips or trips due to lubricant mixed with contaminants dripping on the floor from their power and free chain system, as well as injuries during efforts to “un-jam” the P&F chain using poles or other equipment. Chainless and lubricant-free, these are concerns that are eliminated with an IntelliFinishing system.

Employee Turnover

Compared to chain systems, an IntelliFinishing system is significantly quieter and not as uncomfortably hot to work around, resulting in a much more pleasant workplace. From the ability to pre-load parts offline on loadbars or online with more time to load a stationary target, to its high-tech system design and computer control, IntelliFinishing system customers report lower employee turnover with an IntelliFinishing paint system in place when compared to their previous systems. And while it may be challenging to quantify initially, you should count on a reduction in new employee onboarding time as well.

Maximizing Flexibility, Efficiency and Cost Savings

IntelliFinishing systems are known for being the most flexible automated finishing systems on the market, allowing for recipe control of finish processes by each carrier, as well as modular construction that allows for changes and superior adaptability over time. However, an IntelliFinishing system can deliver savings in many other ways, ultimately driving the cost per hour used well below competitive options, particularly whenever flexibility is required. Although IntelliFinishing systems are primarily used for metal finishing, they can also be used for finishing other products as well. Whether it’s powder coating or liquid coating, IntelliFinishing provides cost-effective automated systems that will change the way you think about paint lines.

Isn’t it time you spoke with IntelliFinishing about your finishing needs? Contact us at 785-309-0356 or check out our operating systems videos at www.intellifinishing.com.

We made the cover of Products Finishing Magazine for June 2016! Read about our newest installation at Albers Finishing & Solutions of Cheney, KS in the magazine this month.

684 feet of conveyor was installed in this new liquid paint facility with an Open House held in March. Along with the conveyor system, the IntelliFinishing system that was installed included a 3-stage wash, dry-off oven, two paint booths equipped with Fanuc robots and the capability of handling up to 500 pounds of weight on each load bar.  Additional services they plan to add include powder coating and anodizing. Read more in the article from PFonline.com.