Once you buy new coating equipment, a ton of work has to happen before the new equipment ever arrives. Thankfully, here’s a couple steps to help make the transition from purchase to fully-operational coating line as seamless as possible.
Determine Where Your Equipment Will Be Located
When you are planning for your new equipment, make sure you know exactly where every appliance will be located. Check for irregular walls, low ceilings, duct work and anything that can impinge on the equipment. Give your new equipment enough clearance for code requirements. Measure your door swing and confirm that items moving in and out of the enclosures won’t be jostled or run into other equipment.
This seems like a very simple step, and it is – unless you wait until the equipment’s on your doorstep. Double- and triple-check your measurements, and save yourself a last-second headache.
Layout Your Workflow
Like above, the workflow plan helps you determine where everything related to the equipment will be located. This includes powder and spray guns, the storage for untreated parts, where the racks will sit, etc. Make sure you set aside staging areas in your layout; staging areas are spaces where you’ll need to leave parts to dry (after pretreatment), after coating (if the oven is already full), where parts will cool and where parts will be packed up for shipment or further assembly after coating.
When you’re done with your workflow, you should be able to follow a part through the entire coating process – from initial storage to final staging and all the steps in-between. This will help you identify steps that may need more room than originally planned so you can adjust BEFORE you install the equipment.
Get Your Permits
Is your new equipment arriving to help you meet a big production deadline? Are you cutting the ribbon on a new facility? If you want everything to go off without a hitch, start getting your permits and inspectors lined up right now. Don’t forget this step until a week before you’ve planned to open the new line, because you will be disappointed. Start this process as soon as you’ve signed the purchase order for the equipment.
Set-up a Staging Area To Identify Parts on Arrival
Every new piece of finishing equipment is made up of numerous parts – and many of these parts look remarkably similar. Give yourself and your installers a chance to identify any missing pieces by providing space where the crates can be unloaded, and each part can be identified and stored where they can be easily relocated.
For more information about getting ready for new equipment, we recommend the following articles from our manufacturer: Choosing Your Powder Coating Equipment, What Size Powder Coating Oven Do You Need? and What Size Powder Spray Booth Do You Need?
If you have any questions about how you can get ready for your new Booths and Ovens equipment, please call us today.
