Advantages and limits of In-can dosing systems

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Advantages and limits of In-can dosing systems All suppliers of paint and lacquer who have a relative wide product range with small batch sizes and who wants to continue and grow to supply into more

1 Advantages and limits of In-can dosing systems All suppliers of paint and lacquer who have a relative wide product range with small batch sizes and who wants to continue and grow to supply into more niches can have benefit from the right concept of in-can dosing. To continue with a successful process and profitability in the company, in-can dosing systems as well as the necessary compromise and development in the laboratory, the productivity, flexibility and speed will grow essentially. Michael Krapalis. The industrial production of architectural paints, industrial paints, ink and other similar products starts from the beginning with the classic way of batch production. In the past the general production on paint and similar products was based on batch production and includes the process of mixing liquid and powder materials based on the formula. After finishing the batch after different process steps including quality control, filling into the customer can was the final process step. Basically each different product has a production volume in mobile vessels up to about l and in stationary batch vessels from approximately l. After the batch process and filling the material went directly to the customer based on orders or which happened in many cases, at least most of the products, have to be transported into the storage. So long a manufacturer have a small range of different products in only a few different colours and customers who ordered large quantities his process was very economical. But the industry changed to the well known "just in time" philosophy. This process starts to be more and more uneconomical. Market needs changed basically After this time of standard batch production the market needs changed basically. The number of different products and the number of different colours increased for most of the manufactures. At the same time the quantities which are ordered from this specific customer decreased in the size. That makes the manufacturing more and more difficult and with standard batch equipment more and more uneconomical. Especially in the area of standard paint products, (typical retail products) like wall paint for self makers, the strategy is to produce standard white base products in different can sizes and to use tinting machines with shakers to make the right colour with the right base "just in time" for the customer at the retailer. For this specific market area this was the solution. The manufacturing plant was focused on large batches from a small number of base products and filling into the can. The marketing installed retail shop tinting machines directly by the dealers so that the customer has direct access to the full range of products. Delivery time and manufacturing costs are reduced. Also the costs for storage and logistics are less. The retail dispensing systems helps the manufacturing for wall paints. At the time way "in plant installations", like the ink manufacturers installed for there larger customers, helps as well to increase batch sizes and to reduce numbers of different batches in the manufacturing. Based on the agreement with the ink customer, who needs continues flow of different colours of ink, the final production step to define colour as well as different quality standards is transferred to the customer. So, again logistic and manufacturing comes back to an easy large batch job. Production vessel went to be the packaging For all other manufacturer who couldn't use the retail solution or couldn't use dispensing system on side there customers the only way to have savings is to use there own and independent small/ medium batch size automatic system. The main idea, is to install a fast dispensing machine which works with the combination of different bases with the standard colorants for tinting. In that combination, the dispensing machine transferred the final step of production directly into the can (packaging). So finally the production vessel went to be the packaging. From the technical standard it is clear that dispensing machines from batch production solutions like they are used from early 80th on, have to be modified in size and dramatically in speed and accuracy. Example: Instead of making 1 easy l batch it is necessary to make 100 batches of 10 l. As well as this also the quality control needs to change from checking every batch, to checking bases and colorants plus the accuracy of the dispensing. Also the investment into work to adjust the formulas and to develop standard colorants can be high. An important goal is to standardize raw materials and formulas to reduce the equipment specification. The in can system must be fast and flexible with high decrease of being reliable. Where is the limit? The question which comes up very often is, were is the break even point to make a batch in can or to make it in batch production? It's a simple question but there is no easy answer. Basically an in can system is a more or less automated technical machine with a high degrees or performance. At least much more than any batch production system. That means, if the customer decides to use an in can system it is mostly a high investment. So for that reason it is necessary to use such a system at least in one shift full time but better in two or three shifts. The benefit of the return of investment is faster. With our experience the user of an in can dispensing system will fill up production capacity on the in can system by starting with a smallest size of batches and will finally end and fill up the capacity of the machine until the largest batch which is possible to make on the in can system fill up all the production capacity. Every batch above that size have to be made at the traditional batch production way or it have to go into the next shift. In the normal range we see the limit of in can production in the area of between 100 and 300 kg depending on the application, the production size and the automation of the system. The heard of the dispensing machine is divided into two parts. One part is basically the dispensing of all the bases and possibly some additives. The second part is the dispensing of all the colorants to define the colour. Because the quantities to dispense bases or to dispense colorants are different, the technical dimensions and standards of the base filling is normally different to the dispensing on the colorants. Bases need more speed and colorants need more accuracy. To have more speed it is necessary to dispense in a line system so that base and colorant dispensing works simultaneous to safe time. From the technical development at this area the most complicated part is to use right valves, right to control and scale system and the automation have to be reliable and

2 fast. The most of the technology comes from the right concept between the valve, scale and the control system. Volumetric or gravimetric? What is the better concept of dispensing? Volumetric or gravimetric? Volumetric Dispensing < Advantages: - quick and simultaneous multi-component dispensing - high accuracy for small batches - percent value for the dosing mistake - low cost technology especially for small standard systems (retail) - compact construction < Disadvantages: - no real logging, no real protocol can be generated - limited usability depending on the product - slow dispensing for bigger quantities - dispensing mistakes are not necessarily detected ( trapped air) - dispensing mistakes due to deterioration - additional costs for volumetric calibration of the pastes Gravimetric Dispensing < Advantages: - absolute logging, a real protocol can be generated - quick dispensing for big batches and medium quantities. - with the new technology also high speed for small quantities. - highly precise scales and an efficient and adaptive control system result in an excellent accuracy - independent of the viscosity, the system can be applied for almost all product ranges - combination with all pump types possible < Disadvantages: - successive dispensing of the various components, especially for recipes with many components - relatively high costs for small number of components So, it is clear that for most of the cases gravimetric dispensing is the only way to go. Accuracy, speed and the really needed protocol for the quality control is a must for the gravimetric solution. Also labelling machines are needed from most of the concepts. They are integrated in the can flow including barcode readers. Than also mixers or shakers are needed. It depends on the products what the solution is. Also other handling equipment like top closing and automation of can transport is needed. This has to be specified on customer needs. Every in can solution needs perfect project consultancy from experts. In the near future based on experience out of large projects the specialised companies will come up with reasonable standard systems for the market of smaller companies or smaller projects. The author: -> Dipl. Ing. Michael Krapalis is Managing Director Fluid Solutions - Dispensing Technology in Norderstedt/ Germany

3 Figure 1: The classic way of batch production.

4 Quelle/Publication: European Coatings Journal 09/2003 Ausgabe/Issue: 15 Seite/Page: Figure 2: Dispensing directly in the can.

5 Figure 3: Labelling machines are needed from most of the concepts.

6 Quelle/Publication: European Coatings Journal 09/2003 Ausgabe/Issue: 15 Seite/Page: Figure 4: An independent small/medium batch size automatic system.

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