Eliminating Defects at Automotive Paint Shop

Product

SupaSpun II

Client

Malaysian Automotive Manufacturer

Application

Automotive paint filtration

Location

South-East Asia

Value added

Improved quality, elimination of rework, cost savings

Sector

Automotive

Background

The paint shop is now a highly automated production environment, with robots guaranteeing consistent laying down of primer, base and clear coats. This consistent application must be matched by the specification and quality of the coatings themselves. While today's coatings are supplied to the paint shop to an exacting standard and specification, there is always the possibility of agglomerated particles and contamination ingress of dust and fibres when decanting, mixing and general processing. This is why consistent, reliable filtration is required within the paint shop.

Paint Shop

Image courtesy of ABB

Our client has invested in a new state of the art paint line using ABB robotics to serve prestige manufacturers, such as Mercedes' full line-up of A, C E and GLA models.

Capacity is 50,000 car bodies per annum with a requirement for zero defects. The priority was to ensure the filtration performance guaranteed consistent quality from car to car, month to month, year to year.

Problem

Filtration is often seen as a 'necessary evil', resulting in a focus on the filter costs rather than on reducing the overall operational costs. Bag filters are quite prevalent in the automotive industry as a prefilter for the paints and coatings. While these may be the cheap alternative, they are not the best choice if consistent filtrate quality is required. Moving to a cartridge-based system allows a more technically advanced solution to be implemented.

The Solution

Amazon Filters supplied SupaSpun II meltblown filter cartridges ranging from 50 to 200 microns. These filters have absolute ratings and are manufactured in a highly controlled production environment to ensure consistency in performance batch to batch.

They are used on all PPG supplied primers, base coats, clear coats and solvents on 29 paint lines.

The technical features of the SupaSpun II: multiple graded density filtration layers through the depth of the filter, in conjunction with excellent micron cut-offs, result in both excellent filtrate quality and extended service life versus 'lower cost' competitors.

Cross section of SupaSpun II showing multiple filtration layers

Results

In the five years operating exclusively with Amazon Filters, our client has been able to reduce re-work, saving money and time while consistently supplying zero defect car bodies. A focus on filtration efficiency and higher specification filters results in an overall saving in operational costs even when individual cartridge costs are more. Quality always pays off in the long run.

How a Cartridge-based Filtration System Eliminates Defects at Automotive Paint Shop