Case Studies

Manufacturing

Case Studies:

DuBois Field and Lab Services Design Systems to Improve Quality While Reducing Capital and Floor Space Requirements

OPPORTUNITY:

The customer is a manufacturer of axles for the trailers and caravans. Due to paint quality issues, the customer found themselves facing heavy threats from competitors. To address this, they investigated updates to their paint system for their multiple manufacturing locations. These improvements included an inline recirculating spray wash system to apply their pretreatment and an automated powder coating system. After the completion of the washer build, they began working with a competitor to specify pretreatment chemistry. After several attempts to meet quality requirements, corrosion resistance performance could not be attained. The customer’s corporate purchasing team then reached out to DuBois to learn more about the pretreatment solutions available. A DuBois team of technical specialists presented an overview of chemical offerings and technical support capabilities. The DuBois laboratory’s ISO 17025 accreditation and the on-site service support available resonated with the customer; they chose to begin testing our programs to validate performance.

KEY GOALS:

• Convert a manual liquid paint program to a powder coating system
• Achieve 480 hours of salt spray protection by improving paint adhesion and salt spray performance on axles
• Demonstrate customer support capabilities through field and lab services

THE DUBOIS SOLUTION:

The customer provided the DuBois laboratory with untreated parts to evaluate 3-stage and 4-stage system options. The parts were cleaned and pretreated, then coated with a powder paint and tested for salt spray (ASTM B-117) performance. Several programs delivered the results that the customer required. After review, the customer selected a 3-stage system containing a
GF Clean 465 clean, a rinse stage, and a DuraLink 450 coat/dry-in-place. Using a 3-stage system allowed the customer to reduce their capital costs and floor space required. When the time came for the equipment manufacturer to install the first washer, a local DuBois technical specialist joined their team to help bring the new system online to ensure it was ready to prepare axles for powder coating and train the operators on appropriate procedures. Ever since start up, our program has provided clean, water-break-free axles with a uniform blue coating. The collaboration continues as new washers in their other locations continue to be brought online.

KEY BENEFITS:

• Zirconium program provides required cleanliness and corrosion resistance
• Simplified 3-stage process
• Minimized capital and floor space required to build washer
• Coordinated efforts between the sales, laboratory, technical advisors, and equipment suppliers to design washer and train personnel, resulting in a successful system start-up