The Benefits Of Outsourcing Your Painted Products To The Continuous Coatings Process
By Jim Dockey, National Coil Coating Association
Manufacturers often wrestle with the question: “Make or buy?” in many areas of their business. Should a process be outsourced or should it be handled in-house? Financial issues, core competencies and capacity all must be considered. When it comes to painting and coating, it is especially tricky because accurately identifying all of the associated expenses of an in-house coating operation is complex.
A key problem with the decision process is that the associated expenses are hidden in other areas of the business, making the real costs difficult to assess. Here are some of the things that should be considered:
1) Inventory costs:
a. possession of materials
b. inventory turnover rate
c. labor for maintaining inventory
d. damage caused in house
e. space constraints
2) Fixed equipment costs:
a. paint line equipment
b. support equipment required to meet regulatory requirements (OSHA, EPA)
c. labor in reporting regulatory requirements
d. replacement parts inventory
3) Operating Costs:
a. labor for paint line personnel
b. energy costs
c. raw materials
d. maintenance of equipment
e. waste treatment and emission control
f. rejects
g. rework costs (including scrap)
h. insurance
Another consideration is the need for experienced staff to operate an in-house coating system. Utilizing personnel without the expertise in complex coating operations could lead to problems. And finding the experienced workforce needed often proves difficult and requires salaries that are beyond budget. Each of these costs and concerns can be eliminated by converting to prepainted metal. Prepainted metal is metal that is unwound from the coil and then cleaned, treated, and coated to a manufacturer’s specifications. The prepainted metal is then rewound at the coil coater before arriving at the plant. And because the coating is applied evenly, edge to edge, and often on both sides, the quality of coating is unsurpassed. Surface preparation is unmatched with the coil coating process resulting in a tightly bonded finish. This coating system is the most advanced, efficient, and environmentally friendly process used today.
The manufacturing benefits of outsourcing metal painting to a coil coater include:
1) Eliminating the need for in-house painting
2) Saving money
3) Making space in the plant for other operations
4) Providing an outstanding finish
5) Reducing EPA reporting and compliance concerns
6) Upgrading manufacturer’s environmental status
Outsourcing the painting process to a coil coater can offer many cost savings and quality benefits. Even when joined, formed, cut and handled, coil-coated metals often offer superior quality over post-painted alternatives. If you would like help analyzing if prepainted metals are right for your products, visit www.coilcoatinginstitute.org or call the NCCA at 216-241-7333.
There’s a cost justification guide on the website to get you started.
Jim Dockey is Director - CENTRIA Coating Services, and president of the National Coil Coating Association.