It all comes down to the surface

Coating and surface technology plays an important role in making materials and products functional, durable, and safe. Coatings and paints protect surfaces from corrosion, wear, chemicals, and weathering, thereby extending the service life of vehicles, machines, buildings, and everyday objects. At the same time, they enable aesthetic design, color variety, and special properties such as scratch resistance or antibacterial surfaces, which increase comfort, hygiene, and safety.

Intralogistics concepts in surface coating present specific challenges.

Efficient storage and transport

Intralogistics concepts in painting systems for heavy and large components are characterized by unusual dimensions, high weights, complex process sequences, and strict quality requirements. In contrast to series production with smaller components, the focus here is often on individual items or small series, for example in mechanical engineering, plant construction, or in the commercial vehicle and steel construction industries. Storage systems, conveyor technology, and material flow systems must therefore not only be able to handle large loads, but also be able to react flexibly to different geometries, surface requirements, and process steps.

Further challenges

Bulky and heavy workpieces: Components can be several meters long, weigh several tons, and have complex geometries. At the same time, the conveyor technology must not damage the components or impair their surfaces, as even small defects can negatively affect the paint quality.

Chaining of the individual painting steps: Typically, components pass through several stations such as pretreatment, drying, priming, intermediate storage, top coating, and final drying. Defined cycle and dwell times must be observed between these process steps. The material flow system must therefore not only perform transport tasks, but also act as a buffer and cycle timer.

Environmental conditions: Temperature, humidity, and air purity are crucial for the quality of the coating. At the same time, paint mist, solvents, or powder coating residues affect mechanical components, which places increased demands on corrosion protection, ease of maintenance, and explosion protection.

Coordination of variable throughput times: Unlike in highly synchronized series processes, processing times can vary greatly depending on component size, coating system, or customer specifications. Digital material flow systems with transparent order tracking are necessary to avoid bottlenecks and adjust priorities depending on the situation.

Relying on the right surface technology

The loads of work pieces that need to be coated are increasing significantly, and the variety of components is ever-growing. At the same time, the customer's expectations are higher, with a desire for even better surfaces and more individual colorings. The solution is ultra-modern surface coating technologies, and resource-friendly, forward-looking material flow concepts.

Our technology means that we can offer high plant productivity, efficient processes and optimum throughput times, when coating the surfaces of heavy work pieces and large-scale components. This claim is supported by our well-known reference projects; from the commercial vehicle and transport industry, all the way up to the largest drive unit manufacturer in the world. Whether stand-alone solutions or integrated concepts for larger logistics environments, we design and develop turn-key plant technologies for all our customers.

Solutions for wet coating

When large geared motors, mobile crane components or bus bodies are wet painted, customers all over the world trust in Vollert's highly sophisticated, powerful Engineering concepts. An optimum combination of different pre-treatment, painting and drying processes is essential to ensure high plant productivity.

For this purpose, fully automatic material flow systems are necessary to guarantee optimum throughput times. Whether floor-free systems of up to 50 tons or floor-based conveyor technology moving hundreds of tons, Vollert ensures trouble-free painting processes.

Floor-based systems:

Circuits with roller conveyors, transverse handling and lifting carriages, turntables and swivelling tables and chain conveyors for the paint carriages.
Transfer vehicles to bring paint carriages to the process points and to take them away again.
Pushing and pulling systems for cyclical or continuous conveying through cabins for blasting, cleaning, painting, exhaust and drying.

Floor-free systems:

Circuits with supply and removal systems, lengthways conveying systems, distribution manipulators, lifting, rotating and swivelling facilities for the cradles holding the items.
Central manipulators to bring transport plants to the process points and to take them away again.
Cradles/skids with built-in rotating and swivelling functions and height adjustment in the pre-treatment and painting cabins.

In practice

Solutions for powder coating

Powder coating is popular, because it offers a completely perfect result. It is ideal for particularly resistant surfaces, and is environmentally friendly, as not a single solvent is necessary. It is crucial to use the best - and above all, most economical - plant technology.

At the same time, we take our role as your reliable partner very seriously - from the very first draft right up to the operation of a trouble-free plant system. Vollert meets individual customer requirements and develops and implements customized concepts. Innovations and future-oriented, resource-saving solutions make our customers more successful in their markets on a long-term basis.

And we do not only handle heavy loads and large-scale components but, notably, we also ensure high plant productivity and efficient processes:

Floor-free plant systems for powder-coating plants with working loads of up to 50 t
Circulation systems with supply and removal manipulators and distribution manipulators to supply to and remove from blasting cabins and powder-fusing ovens
Conveyor systems to feed powder-fusing ovens and stationary lifting facilities in the powder-coating application cabins for the lifting and removal of components with the cradles
Single- and multi-track cradle systems for working loads of up to 50 t

In practice

Solutions for cathodic dip coating

The dip coating process has proved itself as a painting technology, notably when coating complicated surface structures but also for large work pieces which are often handled in the construction of a car body.

Today, Vollert's plant systems set the benchmark when moving work pieces using floor-free or floor-based systems through the dip basin, in longitudinal or cross-direction. Removal and supply handling systems transfer or take the components placed on the paint carriages and remove them after painting. Dip manipulators and dip crane systems (stationary and mobile) are also available.

Solutions for cleaning and pre-treatment

For optimum coating processes and a high-quality layer structure, it is vital to employ irreproachable surface pre-treatment methods. By applying the latest cleaning technologies, oils, dirt and fatty residues can be effectively removed. Special additive compounds in water make sure that the work pieces do not corrode during the drying and storing processes. Of equal significance is the water preparation for the multiple use of the cleaning detergent mixture.

When striving to achieve particular surface qualities, water is not enough to remove or deburr varnish and rust from the work pieces. Specialized blasting systems are implemented. Vollert’s latest material flow technologies guarantee trouble-free processes, above all when heavy work pieces and large components are pre-treated..