Benefits of Automated Dispensing

By Industry Paints and Coatings Inks

 

Paints and Coatings

I. True “touchless manufacturing” reduces manufacturing steps.
The touchless manufacturing concept is being adopted by a number of international paint manufacturers and is considered a major change to the way batches of paint have been traditionally manufactured. In the past, the trend had been to make one large batch of paint, complete quality control testing, etc. and then take it to a special pot-off area where the batch was split into smaller containers for shipping. With the aid of high speed and repeatable accuracy of gravimetric dispensing systems, it is possible to dispense batches in to the finished shipping container quickly and efficiently with a high degree of accuracy. The efficiency gains can be enormous as everything is done in one step as opposed to multiple stages.

II. Reduced labour requirement to achieve a shippable product.
By automating the batching process direct labour can be reduced significantly. An automated dispenser only requires the operator to select the batch wanted from a pre-planned production schedule, place the container on the scale and press the start button. The dispenser takes over and the individual ingredients are added as per the formulation. Once the system finishes the batch the operator can return, remove the finished container and start the next batch.

III. Batch to batch dispensing consistency.
Our proprietary dispensing software is designed to offer the highest degree of accuracy possible, batch after batch. This is accomplished by integrating our advanced dispensing software with high accuracy weigh scales and our own patented dispense valves.

IV. Reduces quality control checks.
Every batch of product produced by a Novaflow system is supported by a printable batch label. The batch label clearly indicates the requested ingredient weights and the actual +/-dispense accuracy, so you know exactly what went into each batch. Therefore, when producing multiple batches of the same product, many customers will conduct a quality control check on the first and last batches only.

V. Scalable batch sizes.
Our dispensing systems can be designed to accommodate a wide range of batch sizes without compromising dispensing accuracies. Many of our clients utilize our systems to manufacture batches ranging from 1 quart to a 12,000 pound batch using one dispense head. Dispense accuracies can be as high as +/- 0.1 gram.

VI. Reduced calibration requirements versus volumetric.
One of the key benefits of the gravimetric process, unlike volumetric systems, is the fact that calibration requirements are eliminated with the exception of a regular scale calibration. Gravimetric dispensers weigh each ingredient separately and record all usages. In addition, the Novaflow dispensing software has the benefit of having a “self learning” feature. Simply put, the systems learn to become faster and more precise at the same time, thus always improving the results.

VII. Eliminates human weighing errors.
It is a known fact that machines, if set up properly, outperform humans in speed and accuracy. One of the biggest problems with manual batching processes is that weighing errors, in many cases, go unnoticed until the product is subjected to quality control testing or is used by the client. This issue costs companies time and money. The Novaflow dispensing software is designed to monitor itself and report each dispense result on a batch ticket. This allows for simple and effective auditing.

VIII. Corporate interfaces to existing ERP and MRP systems.
One of Novaflow’s key benefits is that we write and support our own software. Our philosophy of taking ownership for this allows us to develop customized programming for clients when required. One of the most popular methods of operating our systems is to create interfaces with manufacturers’ existing ERP and MRP systems and have our dispenser act as a slave to the corporate instructions. Our dispensers receive batch manufacturing requests that are initiated from a batch file received from the corporate entity and we simply complete the batch and send back the actual batch results including individual components, etc.

I. Offers true just-in-time (JIT) manufacturing.
The majority of ink manufacturers have developed their technology to manufacture their finished inks using a series of high strength color bases in conjunction with specific technology. Our dispensing systems have allowed ink manufacturers to simplify their business by moving the manufacturing of the finished inks to the printers, which streamlines the supply chain and allows for true JIT manufacture.

II. Greater press ready colour consistency.
The use of dispensing technology has also provided printers with the ability to make ink on demand and only manufacture enough to initiate a job. Once colors are confirmed, and if necessary, adjusted, they can simply make the same formulations over and over again to meet their demands.

III. Reduces returns and work off inventory.
When managed properly, the printer will manufacture inks on demand and only as much as required. As jobs come closer to finishing the trend is now to make small quantities to keep the sumps topped up. The benefit is lower finished ink inventories.

IV. Easy and effective re-work of redundant and slow moving
inventory is now possible.
Novaflow offers a material re-work or work off software program which allows individuals with little or no experience in inks to work off redundant and/or slow moving inventory. The operator simply selects the formulation to make and asks the computer to search the existing inventory database to see what can be used. It will then offer all possible items. The operator selects individual or multiple items as formulations allow and asks the computer to re-formulate the ink. The end result is that inventories can be easily controlled by anyone.

V. Enterprise based SQL database – “web enabled” software allows for
central database control.
The next step in the natural progression of automated dispensing is to develop a single materials and formulation database which can be managed by the corporate entity and distributed to remote sites as required. New formulations or changes to existing items can be seamlessly made over a secure communications line.

VI. Spectrophotometer interfaces.
A large number of printers are using spectrophotometers for quality controlling and, in some cases, manufacturing ink formulations using match prediction capabilities. Novaflow has existing interfaces with a wide range of spectros.

VII. VOC and HAPS tracking and reporting.
Novaflow’s Materials Management Software (MMS) is used by many clients to track and report both VOC and HAPS requirements.

VIII. Complete quality system tracking and reporting.
We have designed a batch tracking and reporting system that has been designed to comply with the highest quality system requirements.

Pre-press manager- internationally recognized gravure printer.
“Novaflow assisted us in developing cylinder management software. This program allowed us to track and monitor all of our gravure cylinders. The end result being that we have gained much tighter control of the entire pre-press department. The CMS software, as we call it, has been fully integrated into the Novaflow Materials Management Software package, making it a seamless program. The benefits we have realized have been enormous.”

Manufacturing manager- industrial coatings company.
“Novaflow’s technology has provided us with the ability to effectively deal with our desire to develop a true ‘touchless’ manufacturing operation. We can now dispense a formulation, quality control it and ship it in the same container.”

Process engineer- polyurethane foam manufacturing company.
We approached Novaflow with the understanding that they had no experience with polyurethane foam manufacture. By working with their engineering and IT people we were able to develop a fully automated batching process which provides a consistently repeatable batch process which releases manpower to focus on other down stream processes.”

Process engineer- ink jet ink manufacturing company.
“Novaflow has provided a customizable, reliable, cost-effective solution for dispensing raw materials from drum stock to pails for small batch additions. The equipment has improved productivity, safety and ergonomics through the reduction of drum handling and improved quality through batch addition accuracy. Overall they were great to work with, from design to startup."

R&D manager- internationally recognized architectural
paint manufacturer.
“Developing new ‘leading edge’ technology is critical for our long term success. One of the problems we encounter is evaluating new technology in the field. Novaflow’s small batch manufacturing system is ideally suited for evaluating new products prior to activating them in the field.”

President- liquid colorants company.
“Novaflow dispensers have helped us reduce labor costs while increasing our batch to batch consistency and throughput. The end result is we are more efficient and more profitable.”

President- paste Ink manufacturer.
“Prior to automating our process our small batch process was very labour intensive and inefficient. Novaflow’s NP15 unit has dramatically reduced our turn around time and improved our batch to batch colour consistency.”

VP sales and marketing- international ink company.
“We have worked hand in hand with Novaflow to develop a low cost dispensing system that we can utilize for remote manufacturing at client sites. I can honestly say we not only simplified our business by shipping raw materials versus finished products, we have virtually eliminated rush shipments. In addition, our color consistency on press is much better and we are now dealing with thinned ink returns efficiently. Our customers also love the flexibility it offers when last minute production schedule changes crop up. The next step for us is to utilize their new SQL web enabled software to develop more control with our larger corporate clients operating multiple printing facilities.”

VP sales and marketing- privately held ink compan.
“We have been very pleased with our decision to purchase Novaflow’s dispensing systems. Their software definitely sets them apart from other manufacturers. In addition, their after sales technical support team has proven to be very helpful when situations arise.”

VP national accounts- global supplier of printing inks.
“Novaflow has provided us with the ability to customize hardware and software to meet new market requirements.”

Ink room manager- flexography printer.
“Novaflow’s new Version 11 software is extremely easy to work with and I especially like the new ‘design module’ and new ‘e-mail ordering’ capability. It is a real time saver.”