Primary Metal Products

Modean Industries’ experience with primary metal products covers a broad range of products, including but not limited to: architectural and extruded products, Re-bars, structural I-beams, purloins and stampings. The combination of Modean Industries’ system design experience coupled with the exceptional quality of application equipment supplied by the ITW Group of companies has afforded our clients many years of trouble-free, dependable finishing systems.

Case Studies

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Pollution-Free Aluminum Extrusion Cuts Costs, Improves Quality

The Client
A leading multinational aluminum extruder.

The Challenge
The client was experiencing extreme problems with their existing anodizing facility. They needed to add finishing capability that would: 1) result in a tougher, more durable finish for architectural applications, 2) meet strict state and federal environmental regulations, 3) reduce operating costs, and 4) offer their customers a wider variety of finish colors and textures from which to choose.

The Solution
To meet these challenges, the client, accompanied by key technical members that today manage Modean Industries, traveled throughout the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Italy, and Switzerland to visit several aluminum extruder installations in order to evaluate the merits of both liquid and powder coatings.

The client’s engineering team established the standards required for the coating to meet the Architectural Aluminum Manufacturers Association for commercial specifications. Working with two powder manufacturers, several tests were performed on a variety of product samples in the United States. Powder coating exceeded all of the standards established by the AAMA using a single coat as compared to the two coats necessary with liquid coating. The outcome: the client selected powder coating as their coating of choice.

The 30-ft.long aluminum extrusions were bundled to be pretreated in a 9-stage immersion station with dry-off. After dry off, the parts were manually loaded horizontally on a load bar mounded on a power-and-free conveyor. The power section of the conveyor carried the racked extrusions through the automatic powder booths where they were electrostatically coated with deflector-less automatic guns moving at 18 FPM. There was a second automatic booth for quick color change, followed by a manual booth used for manual re-enforcement if needed. The rack was then transported through a cure oven cured at 400 deg. F.

As a load bar carrying coated extrusions exited the environmentally controlled coating room it headed for the 400F curing oven, a limit switch activates its cure cycle, and a photo sensor counts the conveyor “dogs” on top of each successive load bar as it passed by.

Once fully inside the oven the direction of travel automatically shifted 90 degrees, and the load bars were carried laterally rather than lengthwise through the oven. As each load bar approached the oven exit it stopped until released by a signal from the system’s microprocessor. The programmable controller compared monorail conveyor speed to the number of load bars that entered the oven based on the count of the optical sensor. When these two variables indicated that the lead load bar and its rack of coated extrusions had been in the oven for the designated time, it was released to rejoin the monorail that carried it out of the oven. The bake oven had capacity for a total of 11 racks at one time.

This microprocessor control system made the cure cycle independent of the monorail conveyor line speed, and a similar system was used to avoid over loading the free conveyor unload station. Another control feature was that, should the conveyor stop for any reason, the oven would automatically turn down to a 200F holding temperature to avoid over baking any extrusions in the oven at the time.

The monorail conveyor carried the racks back to the free section of the conveyor where they were unloaded manually.

Benefit to Client
The system provided the utmost in flexibility and was able to handle extrusions up to 30 feet long. Color change was relatively simple and swift, enabling the company to provide any color the customer desired. Housekeeping was easy with virtually no over-spray, and no messy paint sludge to deal with as in liquid coating operations.

Conclusion
The new powder coating system cut energy costs, improved product finish with a vast array of colors and gloss, operated pollution free and over-spray recovery was up to 98%, making the system extremely economical.

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Revolutionizing How a Client Achieves Quality and Manages ROI

The Client
A major supplier of unique primary metal products servicing the water purification industry for military and commercial applications.

The Challenge
Should Modean Industries simply replace the client’s antiquated convection oven or revolutionize how its client did business?

The Solution
The client contacted Modean Industries as a result of a website search for convection ovens. They simply wanted a new oven to replace their existing old one. So Modean Industries sent an engineering expert to the client’s facility to evaluate the oven, make recommendations on a replacement and provide a budgetary price. Upon closer evaluation, however, the engineer proposed a better production idea after concluding that the existing system was utilizing excessive manual labor and inefficient application equipment. The coating process was, in effect, the bottleneck of the entire production line. The engineer suggested an alternative approach that would save time, money and increase production speed with an impressive ROI. The client wasn’t convinced but the engineer persevered and basically offered a free trial before buying a new oven.

Benefit to Client
The client could witness firsthand a test of the proposed new automated production process at no cost to his company. The process included a reciprocating rotary atomizer and an electric infrared (IR) oven. The outcome of the test was very impressive but the client was skeptical and wanted further proof so Modean Industries, along with its ITW partners, repeated the tests a total of three times, each time proving more impressive than the first because as the testing engineer became more familiar with the process, he was able to perfect the application for maximized successful results.

Conclusion
The client was incredulous and issued the purchase order to Modean Industries for a total turnkey system. Modean Industries installed, started up and ran the system to the high standards required by the client and eight years later the system is still running strong. In fact, the client reported that the payback on his turnkey system was less than six months. Indeed, a very impressive ROI!

As a result of this experience, Modean Industries continues to enjoy the benefit of referrals from this very satisfied client.

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Hydro Aluminum Achieves Consistency From Batch to Batch — Every Time!

Please note: The following Case Study has been prepared by ITW Gema, a supplier of Modean Industries, and is being reproduced with ITW Gema’s permission. Hani Azzam of Modean Industries supervised the design and engineering of several of the original Gema systems in the United States.

The Client
Hydro Aluminum is a leading aluminum extruder and the largest drawn tubing producer in North America. With 11 aluminum extrusion facilities, customers can count on getting the right metal at the right time. Their St. Augustine, Florida facility specializes in the contract manufacturing and finishing of a wide variety of extrusions. Examples include wind chime tubing, aluminum boat decking, awning components, soccer goal components, and compressed air
piping systems, along with other specialty products.

The Challenge
Having extensive experience with a liquid electrostatic finishing system, Hydro Aluminum wanted to bring the benefits of powder coating into their operation. Their initial powder coating system included manual guns from ITW Gema. However, the company soon realized that a higher level of automation was required to achieve the consistency and quality their customers demanded.

The Solution
Hydro Aluminum chose ITW Gema for their powder system upgrade, based on their positive experience with Gema’s manual guns and the excellent service from ITW Gema’s distributor, Dietz Supply Company. Hydro Aluminum installed a 9000 cfm ITW Gema cartridge booth, fitted with OptiGun® automatic powder guns, OptiStar™ control units, and OptiFlow™ high performance powder pumps. A 30′x 65′ environmental clean room was supplied by Dietz Supply.

The Savings
Upgrading to ITW Gema’s OptiFlex™ automatic powder coating system resulted in numerous benefits for Hydro Aluminum. “Having a system that maintains consistency every time, has reduced the number of rejects and improved the quality of our finished products,” stated Scott Johnson, Regional Engineering Manager. Hydro Aluminum can now target new customers with higher coating requirements.

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Temple Products Covers More Surface With Less Powder

Please note: The following Case Study has been prepared by ITW Gema, a supplier of Modean Industries, and is being reproduced with ITW Gema’s permission. Hani Azzam of Modean Industries supervised the design and engineering of several of the original Gema systems in the United States.

The Client
Temple Products of Indiana, Inc. powder coats aluminum extrusions. While their parts are mostly used on recreational vehicles and cargo trailers, Temple also powder coats components for specialty vehicles like ambulances.

The Challenge
It had become clear that Temple needed to increase line speed significantly without reducing line density to handle their challenging production schedule. The existing equipment was not capable of meeting their demands and they were interested in upgrading to the latest technology the powder coating industry has to offer. After a lab trial at ITW Gema, Temple felt that the OptiSystem™ offered the solution they were looking for.

The Solution
An automated system including OptiGun™ automatic powder guns, OptiFlow™ pumps and OptiTronic Plus™ control units was installed. ITW Gema’s AutoTracker™ Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) was added to enable automatic gun triggering and precision control.

The Savings
According to John Loomis, “We knew we were going to see powder savings, but we never expected to save this much — our powder usage has decreased by 40%.” The OptiSystem allows Temple to put the right amount of powder on the part, creating less waste and enabling them to increase throughput by 60%. Upgrading with ITW Gema gave us the efficiency we were looking for and a payback in just 3 months.

“I got much more out of this upgrade than I ever expected — we’re getting 60% more throughput using 40% less powder.”
— John Loomis, Temple Products of Indiana, Inc.

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Schulte Corp. Manages Total Payback in Less Than Three Months

Please note: The following Case Study has been prepared by ITW Gema, a supplier of Modean Industries, and is being reproduced with ITW Gema’s permission. Hani Azzam of Modean Industries supervised the design and engineering of several of the original Gema systems in the United States.

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The Client
The Schulte Corporation combines both wood and wire to produce a variety of unique storage products for home, office and institutional use.

The Challenge
Schulte was concerned with material utilization and the capability of their existing powder coating equipment. Therefore, Schulte began considering new options for their expanding business. The plant engineer, Steve Koehl, turned to ITW Gema to improve their operation.

The Solution
ITW Gema upgraded the existing system with OptiTronic Control Units and new guns. Also included in the upgrade was a remote powder feed hopper and a vibratory sieve for reclaiming powder, improving quality and consistency.

The Savings
Schulte immediately realized a substantial reduction in powder, the elimination of downtime, and extended life for their wear-parts. After using the new equipment for three months, the average powder savings was 32%. Based on powder savings and cost, this translates into a total payback in less than three months.

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Windsor Metal Realizes Double Their Anticipated Profit

Please note: The following Case Study has been prepared by ITW Gema, a supplier of Modean Industries, and is being reproduced with ITW Gema’s permission. Hani Azzam of Modean Industries supervised the design and engineering of several of the original Gema systems in the United States.

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The Client
Windsor Metal Finishing is a privately held company that specializes in architectural finishing. Located in Kissimmee, they are currently the only company licensed in Florida to provide the complete lines of high-performance fluoropolymer coatings compliant with the extensive requirements of the American Architectural Manufacturer’s Association’s (AAMA) Specification 2605-8.

The Challenge
Operating as a purely liquid coating facility, Windsor saw that there was an opportunity to expand their operation by offering high-end powder coatings capable of withstanding Florida’s harsh environment. The combination of high humidity, salt-laden air, strong UV rays, and abrasion from windblown sand, quickly cause fading and chipping and Windsor wanted to provide a solution to these problems. Florida’s “Green Building Movement,” encouraging businesses to provide more environmentally-friendly finishing solutions, created additional motivation to upgrade their operation with a powder coating line.

The Solution
Because part sizes can be large and vary significantly from job to job, a manual application technique was determined to be the best option. EasySystem™ touch-up units with OptiTronic™ controls were installed in a cartridge-style booth. The powered roll-on/roll-off booth gives Windsor the flexibility to perform both liquid and powder coating operations on the same conveyor line.

The Savings
The new system has been so successful that it helped Windsor to win the Governor’s 2004 Council for Sustainable Florida Small Business Award. As powder continues to grow and replace liquid coating applications at Windsor, disposal costs of volatile chemicals have been declining. Since the powder coated parts do not require a primer, the elimination of this step has led to time savings, as well as other cost reductions associated with the liquid process. The efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the upgrade, coupled with increased business volume, has enabled Windsor to realize double the profit level anticipated at the start of this project.

“When your powder costs more than $20 a pound, precise application becomes critical.”
— Malcolm Brant, Windsor Metal Finishing

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