IR curing opens door for powder coating conversion
A leading US manufacturer of material handling equipment, hand trucks in particular, was seeking a solution to an ongoing quality problem. The solution? Gas catalytic infrared (IR) processing.
Wesco Industrial Products’ hand truck production line has a start-to-finish lean manufacturing operation in its 100,000-square-foot plant in Lansdale, Pa. The product line incorporates 200 to 300 different parts, which are finished in one of six colors. Part size ranges from 6 inches to framework assemblies that are 80 inches tall, 24 inches wide, and 24 inches deep. Production orders are typically for small lots ranging from 10 to 30 pieces each. These steel and aluminum parts are welded to form subcomponents, and then finished prior to final assembly for shipping. Figure 1 shows a typical hand truck.