Gordon Aluminum Industries, Inc. (Schofield, WI) is a vertically integrated manufacturer
of intricately shaped aluminum extrusions. The company's owner, Jack Gordon, along
with his son, A.J., the company's president, have worked diligently to keep their
facility state-of-the-art, and its ISO 9002 certification is tribute to this effort.
Among the many things that
keep Gordon a leader in its industry is an automated powder coating system from
Iontech Powder Coating Systems. The automated system not only recognizes varying
part packages, changing gun parameters on the fly, but can "phone home"
for adjustments to its processor as well. By use of an embedded modem in the control
equipment, the system talks to Iontech's computers and, ultimately, to the supplier's
controls engineers, where minor or major changes can be made to the system parameters
without the need for a plant visit.
Recently, Gordon found
it necessary to turn its powder booths 180 deg due to changes in its process.
While a field service technician was sent by the powder coating system supplier
to assist with the physical part of the transition, it was not necessary to send
a controls engineer to Gordon to change the program for spray gun parameters.
Rather, a simple phone call to a controls engineer in the supplier's home office
initiated a connection between Gordon's PLC and the supplier's RSLinx® communication
software.
After the computer link
was established, Gordon called the supplier with the new distances from the light
banner, which triggers the spray guns on and off automatically, to the automatic
guns. At that point, the preliminary new triggering information was entered into
the supplier's copy of the system's program. With the link established, the controls
engineer went online with Gordon. Then, Gordon confirmed via telephone that the
new data for gun triggering was working. The controls engineer only had to adjust
this data once more to get the guns triggering correctly in their new position.
The guns' spraying cycles
were also observed. Based on that observation, the control engineer adjusted the
purge time to reflect the increased powder use, which required more purging. Consequently,
the modem and communication software were able to provide Gordon with real-time
monitoring of gun triggering and purging. And, if Gordon should ever lose the
program in its processor for whatever reason, Iontech could restore them to running
condition in a matter of minutes.
Gordon's variety of aluminum
extruded shapes are coated horizontally, providing a difficult challenge for any
part recognition system as its parts are hung on a slight angle to promote good
drainage. Thus, light sensors may see the start of the part but later be confused
and believe that no part is present. Therefore, Gordon employed light banners
with a resolution of 5 mm to defeat this problem and assure that the proper guns
are functioning when they are needed.
Gordon's system includes
two PneuFlow™ WideBody automatic spray booths. These units permit touch-up
operators inside for ease of access to parts and reduction of operator fatigue.
Each booth is equipped with 10 automatic guns and two handguns for use when touch-up
is necessary. The two booths allow Gordon to coat virtually any color its customers
may choose by operating the booths in an online/offline rotation. With this method,
Gordon is able to effectively change colors in about 5 min.
Another advanced feature
of the system involves the ability of the guns to automatically clean themselves
when they are not busy coating parts. When the light banner indicates that there
are no parts present or when there is a break in production, the PLC instructs
the guns to purge. At this point, the central controller sends high pressure air
through the pumps, hoses and guns to loosen and remove built-up powder. Purging
the guns on a regular basis avoids powder spitting onto the parts. Use of the
purge system also reduces build-up of powder in feed hoses, which can affect powder
flow. This build-up can result in too thick or too thin coatings and harm the
high quality standards established by Gordon.
Gordon had evaluated a
number of suppliers before proceeding with the project. "We found Iontech
to be flexible and knowledgeable. The company worked closely with us to design
a system that met our unique requirements," stated Craig Kowatch, Gordon's
plant manager.
"One of the things
that interested us in the system initially was that we knew they had produced
systems for other major aluminum extrusion companies," explained Mr. Kowatch.
"Although a system with this level of automation was more expensive than
we had originally anticipated, we feel that the performance and control have presented
a very good value. We are impressed with its durability and flexibility. The system
allows us to coat a variety of colors and shapes automatically with minimal changeover
time while maintaining our extremely high quality standards.
