TracRac
Inc. (Fall River, MA) is a manufacturer of a variety of products,
including truck racks, van racks and portable workstations. However,
the company is most known for the product that bears its name. This
racking system, which can be purchased direct from automotive manufacturers
or as an aftermarket product, attaches to the walls of a pickup
truck using a patented system that requires no drilling or bolts.
To manufacture
the racks, and its other products, TracRac purchases aluminum extrusions
that it machines, cuts to length and welds together. Once the pieces
are assembled, they are sent out to be bright dip anodized.
But, sending
parts out to be anodized caused a number of problems for TracRac.
The company found that the finish scratched too easily and limited
its use of different substrates. Also, using two contract finishers
(one for anodizing and the other for powder coating) meant that
TracRac had to build more product than it really needed to be fully
stocked due to the large amount of work continually being shipped
between the three companies.
Having filled
an entire warehouse with work-in-process, Tom Derecktor, president
of TracRac, decided the company needed to make a change. Through
Chrysler, one of TracRac's customers, Mr. Derecktor found out about
a chrome powder coating, called Reflectra, that could be a possible
replacement for the bright dip anodizing on the company's products.
So, Mr. Derecktor
contacted the manufacturer of the chrome powder coating, H.B.
Fuller, to learn more. One of the primary concerns for Mr. Derecktor
was that the chrome powder coating provide the same metallic look
that the bright dip anodizing did. After some extensive testing,
Mr. Derecktor was more than satisfied with the chrome powder's high-gloss
and metallic appearance.
Since TracRac
had never performed any finishing operations, it then had to determine
the best application method for the chrome powder coating. According
to Mr. Derecktor, TracRac wanted the highest quality, most consistent
system to coat aluminum parts.
As is the case
with any coating, TracRac knew that the pretreatment was critical.
Therefore, the company had H.B.
Fuller work with four pretreatment suppliers to determine which
coating system would provide the best results. After testing, TracRac
installed a four-stage (strong acid, rinse, rinse, seal) pretreatment
system from Ondeo
Nalco that is capable of handling multiple metals. The double
rinse allows TracRac to cut the amount of rinse water in half compared
to a single rinse system, which is very important to due the strict
environmental laws in Massachusetts.
Once it had
decided on the pretreatment, TracRac began working with a number
of suppliers (ITW Gema, Southern Finishing, Pacline and Deimco)
to design a state-of-the-art application system. The load station
on the line is located right next to the welding station so that
parts can be immediately put on the system after welding. After
pretreatment, the parts then travel through two powder coating booths,
each with four automatic spray guns. The first spray booth is used
to apply the chrome powder coating at a thickness of 1.5-2.0 mils
(or a black powder to some parts). The chrome powder coating is
then cured. Parts then travel through a second spray booth that
applies a clear powder coating to all parts at 1.0-1.5 mils. TracRac
applies the clear powder coating to double the UV and salt spray
resistance of the parts and enhance the depth of the finish. After
receiving the clearcoat, parts go through a second cure oven. Then
they are unloaded and packaged for shipping.
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The switch
to the chrome powder coating and the move to bring the powder coating
process in house have provided a number of benefits to TracRac.
One of the most significant benefits is a change in the company's
welding process. Before it began using the chrome powder, TracRac
used a manual TIG welding process to accommodate the anodized finish
required on the parts. While the TIG welding process produced good
parts, Mr. Derecktor wanted to switch to an automated MIG welding
process, but the company was unable to do this as long as the parts
were anodized because MIG welding would discolor the anodized finish.
However, with the use of the chrome powder, TracRac was able to
install a robotic MIG welding machine that is six times faster than
the TIG welding process. Not only is the robotic MIG welder faster,
but it produces a higher quality, more consistent weld as well.
The process has become more efficient too; setup time has been reduced
from two weeks to one day. Plus, the MIG welding process allows
TracRac to use higher strength aluminum alloys, improving the durability
of its products.
Another benefit
of the move to the chrome powder was reduced work-in-process. As
noted previously, when TracRac subbed out the finishing of its product
to an anodizer (which, according to Mr. Derecktor, was the only
anodizer in the region) and a powder coater, it was required to
build more product than necessary so that it always had product
ready to be shipped when the company's customers called. In fact,
TracRac had a whole building used to store work-in-process. Initially,
TracRac looked at bringing both the anodizing and powder coating
process in house, but the company quickly learned that building
an anodizing line could not be justified under Massachusetts environmental
laws. So the chrome powder coating allowed the company to eliminate
the anodizing process altogether and bring the entire powder coating
process in house. Now that it doesn't have to ships parts to two
different job shops for finishing, TracRac has reduced it's work-in-process
by 80%, and the building that was originally used to store the work-in-process
now houses the powder coating system.
In addition
to reducing the work-in-process, the chrome powder coating provides
a superior finish, according to Mr. Derecktor. When parts were anodized,
they were easily scratched, and the parts sometimes showed faint
lines in the aluminum that resulted from the extrusion process.
The chrome powder has proven to be more scratch resistant as well
as UV resistant. And, it maintains the metallic look that Mr. Derecktor
feels is important for TracRac's products.
Clearly, what
was once a major headache is now a source of opportunity for TracRac.
Not only has the company dramatically improved its manufacturing
process, but it also is looking into adding a second and third shift
to the powder coating line to do outsource work.
