Tag Archive for: conveyorized paint system

Who wouldn’t want a smaller finishing system footprint, elimination of gaps in the line, energy efficiency, quicker installation, and quieter operation?

Smaller Footprint, Bigger Impact: How Modern Conveyor Design Transforms Finishing Operations

In finishing operations, space is expensive, downtime is painful, and inefficiency quietly erodes profitability. Conveyor systems sit at the center of all three challenges. Traditional power-and-free or chain-based conveyors often force manufacturers into larger floor plans, longer installation timelines, and ongoing productivity losses caused by gaps in the system.

Modern friction-based conveyor solutions are changing that equation—allowing manufacturers to do more in less space, install faster, and adapt quickly when conditions change.

To watch videos about this topic and other advantages of the conveyor used by IntelliFinishing click these links:  A Walkthrough of Our Modular System Design with Tom Robertson, President of IntelliTrak and here: How does the Conveyor Help with Finish Quality, Smaller Footprints, and Faster Installations? – YouTube

Eliminating Gaps to Reduce Space and Increase Throughput

All traditional chain-based conveyorized finishing systems allow gaps between parts. Those gaps exist for many reasons, but the outcome is always the same: lost production.

“Gaps are dollars lost,” according to Tom Robertson, President of IntelliTrak – the conveyor used in IntelliFinishing Systems. Capital equipment—washers, booths, ovens—costs money whether product is running or not. When gaps exist, that equipment is underutilized, even while depreciation keeps ticking.

Monorail systems are especially limiting because gaps cannot be closed at all but even Power-and-free systems cannot close a gap until the carrier reaches an accumulation zone – and very few P&F systems include accumulation zones. Meanwhile, those P&F systems that have accumulation zones force users into longer conveyor paths and larger footprints to maintain throughput.

By contrast, the IntelliTrak conveyor system used by IntelliFinishing is designed to actively close gaps and create queues ahead of critical processes. This ability allows manufacturers to:

  • Maximize throughput at key operations
  • Shorten overall conveyor length
  • Reduce the facility footprint required to achieve production targets

In many cases, higher output is achieved not by adding equipment, but by using existing equipment more efficiently—and in less space.

Heating Only the Product, Not the Conveyor

Ovens are often the largest space and energy consumers in a finishing line. Traditional chain conveyors move not only the product but also large amounts of steel—chains, trolleys, and running gear—through cure and dry-off ovens. Even the support structure for the conveyor is typically inside the oven.

“Now you’re heating all that extra steel to cure temperature,” Tom Robertson explained. “That’s a lot of wasted energy.”

Beyond energy loss inside the oven, that heat is then carried back into the plant, increasing cooling requirements and further driving up operational costs.

IntelliTrac changes this dynamic by moving only the product through ovens. The benefits stack quickly:

  • Smaller ovens can be used for the same output
  • Less heat mass means faster ramp-up and recovery
  • Reduced heat bleed back into the facility
  • Lower energy consumption overall

The result is not only a smaller physical footprint for oven systems, but also a more comfortable and efficient production environment.

Designed for Flexibility When Staffing and Demand Change

Modern manufacturing rarely runs under perfect conditions. People call in sick. Weekend crews are smaller. Demand fluctuates.

Traditional conveyor systems struggle in these conditions because they are designed to run “all or nothing.” IntelliFinishing, however, introduces recipe-based control that allows the system to adapt on the fly.

Operators can adjust:

  • Processes such as timing per stage or pressure in a wash, oven times, booth selection, cooling time, etc.
  • Jobs per hour based on other limiting factors such as labor availability or cure time requirements
  • Zone use for specialized functions like masking, shotblasting, or quality control
  • Conveyor speed and accumulation behavior

If staffing is limited, the system slows down, runs only the zones that are staffed, and reduces energy usage—without requiring physical changes to the line. This flexibility allows manufacturers to design efficiently sized systems instead of oversized ones “just in case.”

Bolt-Together Design Enables Faster, Parallel Installation

One of the biggest hidden costs in finishing projects is installation time. Traditional conveyors often dictate the construction sequence—everyone else waits until the conveyor is in place.

IntelliFinishing takes a different approach.

Because the conveyor is bolt-together and modular, installation can be planned around other equipment. The team collaborates with oven, washer, and blast suppliers to define ingress and egress paths, leaving key areas open for rigging large equipment.

While ovens or washers are being set, conveyor installation can proceed in other zones. This parallel approach means:

  • Shorter overall installation timelines
  • Less inter-trade waiting
  • Faster time to production
  • Reduced disruption to existing operations

For brownfield facilities working within tight spaces, this flexibility can be the difference between a feasible project and an impossible one.

Clean, Quiet Conveyance That Fits Modern Facilities

Beyond footprint and speed, friction-based conveyor technology offers day-to-day operational improvements. Traditional chain systems require lubrication, creating dirt, grime, and drip pans—especially problematic in finishing environments.

IntelliTrac’s friction wheel design runs on extruded tubing, eliminating grease, reducing maintenance, and keeping the line clean. The system is also significantly quieter, improving operator comfort and safety.

These benefits allow manufacturers to integrate finishing lines into tighter, cleaner production environments without the mess or noise traditionally associated with conveyors.

Smaller Systems, Smarter Design

The takeaway is clear: modern conveyor design isn’t about bigger systems—it’s about smarter ones.

By eliminating gaps, reducing unnecessary heat mass, enabling recipe-driven flexibility, and allowing parallel installation, IntelliFinishing helps manufacturers:

  • Shrink required floor space
  • Install faster
  • Adapt to real-world operating conditions
  • Maximize the return on capital equipment

In a world where space, energy, and labor are all at a premium, the ability to do more with less isn’t just an advantage—it’s a necessity.

 

What is a Flexible Finishing System

What Is a Flexible Finishing System?

In the world of industrial finishing, the word flexibility isn’t just a buzzword—it’s a real competitive advantage. Manufacturers today face an ever‑changing mix of parts, materials, thicknesses, colors, and customer demands. A finishing system must keep up, and not every system is built to do that.

Manual finishing lines have always been inherently flexible, but most traditional conveyorized systems? Not so much. That’s where IntelliFinishing systems truly stand apart.

This article breaks down what “flexible finishing” really means, why it matters for paint systems, and how IntelliFinishing offers capabilities that traditional chain conveyor-based systems simply cannot match.

If you’d like to watch a video on this topic, click here: What is a Flexible Finishing System? – YouTube

Manual Systems: Flexible, but at a Cost

Without any conveyor or automation, virtually all manual finishing systems still represent the gold standard for flexibility. Operators can move racks or carts at any speed, pause as needed, adjust spacing, and process small or large parts with little restriction beyond what can fit in their booths or ovens.

But manual systems come with a long list of challenges:

  • They rely heavily on skilled and unskilled labor.
  • Throughput varies with staffing levels.
  • Human error affects finish consistency.
  • Scalability is limited.
  • Labor shortages make staffing increasingly difficult.

As one of our team members likes to say, “No IntelliFinishing system has ever called in sick.”

Manufacturers need flexibility, yes—but they also need consistency, predictability, and uptime. That’s where conveyorized finishing comes in. Unfortunately, most traditional conveyor systems solve one problem but create another.

Traditional Conveyor Systems: Automated but Rigid

A traditional monorail chain conveyor runs at a single speed and moves all parts throughout the entire finishing line at that speed. It doesn’t matter whether a part is in the wash bay, blast booth, paint booth, or oven—the conveyor pulls everything through at the same pace.

That means:

  • If one zone needs more time, the entire line slows down or stops.
  • If a part needs less time, there’s no way to speed it through.
  • Whenever the line stops, all parts stop.
  • All parts loaded must be engineered around the constraints of the conveyorized system —not the other way around.

There is zero independent part control and almost no opportunity for variation within the process path. For shops or OEM’s processing different parts of different sizes, thicknesses, materials, or coatings, this becomes a major bottleneck.

Of course, power and free conveyors can allow some level of zone speed control, but they still tend to enforce a rigid set of speeds per chain section. Thus, all items in the cure section will have the same cure time/speed until the entire chain section is adjusted. So, this offers some flexibility, but not per-carrier flexibility.

What Makes IntelliFinishing a True Flexible Finishing System

IntelliFinishing combines the flexibility of manual systems with the automation and consistency of advanced conveyor technology.

Independent Carrier Control

Every IntelliFinishing system uses our IntelliTrak conveyor technology. Instead of one long chain, the conveyor is made up of individually controlled sections.

This means:

  • Every carrier runs at its own speed per section.
    Need more wash time? Slow that section down for that carrier. Want to prevent overcure? Speed up through the oven for that carrier.
  • Sections can move independently.
    A carrier in the oven can slow down while another in the paint booth speeds up. They are not physically connected.
  • The line never operates as a single point of failure.
    One area can pause without shutting the entire system down.

This level of control is something traditional monorail conveyors simply can’t do.

Recipe-Based Processing

Each carrier runs on a recipe tailored to the part it’s carrying. That recipe can be defined as:

  • Line speed per process
  • Dwell times, if carriers need to stop
  • Section-specific behavior – for example, oscillating back and forth in the wash, rather than just a forward-moving option
  • Routing, such as whether or not to go to the optional steps. For example, through a blast or not through the blast. To a masking station or skip the masking station. To a specific booth for color change optimization or dedicated reasons, and even to specific unload stations.
  • Dry oven time and temperature responses
  • And of course, cure oven requirements

If a new part or new coating chemistry is introduced, simply update the recipe—no re-engineering of the system needed.

For example:

If a new wash chemical reduces cleaning time by half, your recipes can be updated instantly. If a new paint requires longer cure times, recipes accommodate that, too.

This type of adaptability makes IntelliFinishing a better future‑proof investment than traditional conveyor systems.

Why Flexibility Matters: Handling a Wide Variety of Parts

Flexible finishing is especially valuable for manufacturers who process:

  • Different part sizes
  • Varying material thicknesses
  • Multiple colors
  • Mixed material types
  • Irregular production schedules

This includes custom fabricators, job shops, and OEMs with complex parts – often different parts of the same piece of equipment, painted before assembly.

In particular, with OEMs, for example, the final product might include tiny brackets, large welded assemblies, long structural members, panel items, or heavyweight components. It’s unrealistic to expect all those parts to need—or tolerate—the same finishing path.

An IntelliFinishing system lets each part get pretreated, coated, and cured exactly what it needs, no more and no less.

Small to Extra‑Large Parts? No Problem.

One of our customers, an OEM, finishes trailer parts that:

  • Weigh up to 25,000 pounds
  • Measure up to 65 feet long

On the same system, they also powder paint much smaller components for the same trailers.

That’s amazing flexibility.

Integrating with Robots, Reciprocators, and Advanced Automation

Modern finishing increasingly includes robotic painting, automated loading/unloading, and sophisticated reciprocating application equipment.

IntelliFinishing systems are designed to integrate seamlessly with:

  • Paint or loading robots
  • Reciprocators
  • Other automated material handling systems
  • And of course, the high‑tech, energy-efficient washers and ovens we supply
  • As well as blast systems

Our PLC and HMI controls easily synchronize with third-party hardware, allowing systems to communicate and operate with precise timing. Carriers arrive at exactly the right place at exactly the right moment—every time.

Automation becomes simpler because the conveyor is smarter.

Material Flexibility: Light, Heavy, Aluminum, Steel, and More

Some finishing systems are designed for lightweight parts. Others focus on heavy steel fabrication.

IntelliFinishing isn’t limited to one category.

Because of the modular track structure and carrier design, our systems can:

  • Handle light aluminum extrusions
  • Handle heavy steel weldments
  • Handle a wide variety of mixed products without change-overs

A single line can serve multiple product families and multiple departments within a business.

Modular “Erector Set” Conveyor Design: Built for Today and Tomorrow

One of the biggest frustrations with traditional systems is that expansion often means tearing out significant portions of the running line. And most monorails cannot be coaxed to increase throughput at all. Meanwhile, changing a power and free system requires extensive downtime.

IntelliFinishing’s modular design solves that.

Our conveyor works like an industrial “erector set”:

  • Easily add new sections
  • Reroute paths
  • Add new ovens and/or booths to increase system capacity
  • Expand production in phases
  • Integrate new technology when needed

All with minimal downtime.

Many customers start with Phase 1 and add future phases as demand grows. Because the conveyor is modular and individually controlled, expansions plug into the system without disruption.

Summary: What Makes a Finishing System Truly Flexible?

A truly flexible finishing or painting system should:

  • Handle a wide variety of part types and sizes
  • Allow individual part control
  • Adjust time and speeds in different process zones
  • Adapt to new coatings and technologies
  • Integrate with robotics and automation
  • Expand easily as production grows
  • Provide consistent, reliable, high-quality finishing throughput

Traditional conveyorized systems can’t do that. Manual systems can, but they rely heavily on people.

IntelliFinishing is the only fully proven finishing system that gives manufacturers manual-like flexibility with fully automated consistency.

It’s the best of both worlds—and for many manufacturers, it’s the only way to meet the challenges of modern production.