Makor Srl, together with its long-standing UK agent, Schubert Technical Services, has successfully installed a new automatic panel spray coating line at Staircraft.
Along with current UK manufacturing trends, Staircraft has become increasingly frustrated with transit times and quality issues from far-flung subcontractors outside the UK. When Staircraft decided to significantly grow the business internally and take control of all of its production – including the finishing process – Makor/Schuberts had the answers.
Significant effort was put into multiple site visits, and full scale tests at the Makor laboratories in Sinalunga, Italy, were carried out with the customer’s product and paints, alongside Schuberts.
An order was placed for a new Makor finishing system consisting of infeed conveyor, Rotofast brushing/cleaning machine, modulating electric IR pre-heat section, Kronos panel spray machine, outfeed conveyor, drying tunnel with modulating infrared, jetted air and cooling section. A separate line was also ordered for profile sanding with belts and wheels for the spindles, balustrades and long profiled sections.
The Makor system installed is flexible enough to deal with softwood as well as MDF substrates, narrow profile pieces, and large full sized panels. The Kronos spray machine will spray primer and base coat through one dedicated circuit and then top coat through a second circuit, meaning colour changes and production down-time are kept to an absolute minimum.
The innovative belt cleaning system ensures no overspray returns to the start of the machine and that the overspray can be reused. A 15in touch-screen colour LCD display allows the storage of recipes and permits all working parameters to be altered and saved.
Dean Lucas, production director at Staircraft, says: “Both Makor and Schuberts worked hard to get what we have found to be a perfect solution to our wide-ranging production. We needed a system that not only would deal with our flat panel work but also complex, non-standard profiles with stop chamfer edges.
“They had all the answers to the preparation of the pieces, the spraying and drying. As our business grows over the next years, we are confident in the investment we have made in the new Makor finishing systems and can recommend the thoroughness of their work.”
Along with panel and profile coating systems – conveyors, sanding machines, vacuum coating, drying systems etc – Makor offers full robotic spray systems for 3D shaped panels with their Robospray machines, Gemini edge coating machines that sand, seal and paint raw MDF and chipboard, and have just launched a more affordable range of automatic panel spray machines aimed at the low-medium production levels.
No longer should the world of autospray machines be the reserve of the large companies – small businesses can now afford their own autospray machine! Together with Schubox catalytic infrared drying technology, they make a very tempting choice. From small stand-alone coating machines to full turn-key lines, Makor and Schuberts are leading the way in the UK for automatic finishing systems.
