Metal
Moulding Corporation
| COMPANY/LOCATION: |
Metal Moulding Corporation, Madison, Tennessee |
| PRODUCT: |
Sheet metal job shop with a powdered coating paint line |
| YEARS IN BUSINESS: |
7 |
| EMPLOYEES: |
35 |
| SITUATION: |
The company makes steel and aluminum fabrications and has a powdered
coating paint line. Because the plant is located within about 20 feet of
the Cumberland River and has undeveloped land around it, bugs were attracted
to the light and heat from the paint line when the doors were opened for
ventilation during warm months and would be pulled into the vacuum system
used to recover and recycle the paint powder. Bugs in the paint caused
rejects of coated parts. Looking for help with the problem, the company
called the University of Tennessee Center for Industrial Services and was
referred to the Oak Ridge Centers for Manufacturing Technology. |
| PROJECT: |
The company wanted a way to keep the bugs out of the paint room, to
prevent rejection of bug-contaminated powdered parts, and to allow use
of the paint line at night. Researchers from ORCMT went to the company
and made suggestions on correcting the problem by instituting a series
of fine mesh screens around the paint room. |
| RESULTS: |
After instituting the changes suggested by the ORCMT staff, both the
bug problem and the associated parts rejection problem have been eliminated.
The company now runs its paint line at night with regular shifts, and the
improvement has allowed them to increase production while reducing overtime.
Increased production and cost avoidances have helped the company to
increase sales by 50 percent and allowed it to add eight additional jobs.
Terry Majors, paint department manager, said the company had gotten
good response and that good, workable, effective suggestions were made.
Overall, he said, the company was very pleased with the results of the
assistance it received. |
Technical assistances provided to the private sector by the Oak Ridge
Centers for Manufacturing Technology (ORCMT) and its manufacturing extension
partners throughout the United States.
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