Our client is one of the leading suppliers of finishing equipment and they supply and maintain bookbinding machines to the graphic arts sector. They are also renowned for their cost-effective aftercare and maintenance service, reflected in their recommendation to their customers to refurbish rather than replace worn glue tanks.
Refurbishment is a cost-effective way to keep your glue tank in nearly new condition - even when it has been used for many years - and provides a more environmentally friendly replacement solution.
The Challenge
As many graphic art companies and bookbinders know, the coating on PUR or EVA glue tanks wear away over time and the glue starts to stick and build up in the tank. This build-up requires harsher, more time-consuming cleaning processes that can cause costly downtime. Our client approached us to discuss a more cost-effective solution for their customers to a replacement, and it was important to avoid as much downtime as possible.
Our Solution
We recoat tanks for our clients every week of the year and refurbished and recoated glue tanks are suitable for all bookbinding equipment that uses PUR or EVA glue.
Surface preparation
Surface preparation is key to ensure the maximum performance from our coatings, no matter how good our coating is, it will not perform to its full capabilities on a poorly prepared surface. We started by removing the glue that had stuck to the tank, as well as completely removing what was left of the old non-stick coating in our pyrolysis oven. Once we had removed all traces of the old coating and glue residue we prepared the surface of the glue tank by carrying out a grit blasting process; this ensures that the surface of the metalwork is roughened to enabling the best possible adhesion of the coating, ready for the new coating to be applied.
Re-Coat
With the old coating removed and great care is taken in the surface preparation, our customer can get the maximum benefit from our AFC2202 coating; our specialist PTFE coating is designed for its non-stick properties and easy cleanliness. It's ideal as a coating in glue tanks due to its high surface resistivity.
TURNAROUND
Our rapid turnaround service ensures minimal downtime, the tank arrives at our facility between 3 pm and 4 pm. The coating removal operation happens overnight, ready for the parts to be grit blasted, coated and cured the next day and ready for despatch by 2 pm.
The Results
As a matter, of course, our client now recommends refurbishment of all their tanks by us. We are able to turnaround the full refurbishment of a tank in under 24 hours meaning minimal downtime and savings of 25% - 75% when recoating vs replacing. Customers tell us that the newly coated tanks are performing as good as, if not better than the original OEM parts.
"We recommend Fluorotec to all our customers to re-coat their Glue Tanks. Our customers have reported they are very happy with the speed of turnaround plus the quality of the recoating. We will continue to recommend Fluorotec to all of our customers in the future."
