Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share Making the Most of your Pilot Line Coating Experience
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
Making the Most of your Pilot Line Coating Experience
/wp-content/uploads/Making-the-Most-of-Your-Pilot-Line-Coating-Experience.mp3
Download Audio File
Pilot coating lines are available in a number of locations where coated product manufacturers can run experimental trials for new products, new components, and new processes to create new or improve existing products. Whether you’ve run a pilot trial or not, chances are there are tips and pointers that can help you get the maximum value out of the experience.
What do I need to have in place before running a coating trial?
There are three levels of process testing in coated product development starting with the small scale lab trial, followed by a pilot trial, and finally scaling up to production trials. In order to undertake a pilot trial, a product development team should have successful lab trials completed and plans for the next stage of scaling up for a pilot line trial.
Are we ready for a pilot coating trial?
Pilot coating trials are not inexpensive, and often product development teams want to rush to this phase of the project. For best preparation you should have the following in place:
What is a realistic budget for the typical coating trial?
There is no single answer to the budget question. Depending upon a company’s readiness and in-house preparation, the budget could be as small as $24,000 or as large as $144,000 (not including material costs). The more experts involved and the more days on-site at a pilot coating line, the more the process will cost. Keep in mind that while the development budget may seem large and time consuming, process and product enhancements and problem solving happens much more quickly and inexpensively on a pilot line than they do on the manufacturing floor. It is good practice to fund trials generously to uncover potential issues, repeat successes, and go to manufacturing with confidence in your product and process.
What is a realistic timeline for a typical coating trial?
While every project has unique aspects and variables, the average coating trial project takes about six months from beginning to end. Obviously, this can vary if the trial includes adjustments on a small number of variables and increase if the complexity of the project is significant, but typically very beginning to very end entails about 6 months of scheduling.
How can I choose a pilot coating site?
Pilot sites seem to be popping up everywhere…at manufacturing companies, educational institutions, and at consulting firms. Fortunately, most include very specific information about the equipment available and experts available. Costs can vary widely, but services offered in terms of expert assistance can vary widely, as well. Make sure you are choosing a site suited for your needs, then compare the value competitive sites offer for your project.
What kinds of results can I expect from a pilot coating trial?
Companies generally enter into a pilot line coating trial to learn:
What experts should I have on-site during a coating trial?
This question can vary widely based upon the experience level of your team. You may choose to have a coating consultant on hand, a process engineer, a chemist, a web handling expert, a manufacturing engineer, or other subject matter expert for reference. Some pilot coating sites have individuals with this expertise available on site.
Top suggestion:
If you are new to pilot coating, plan at least a day longer on the coating line than you think you will need. Inevitably, the very best ideas for design of experiment come at the end of the day and one more day on the pilot line could make a very significant positive impact on your project.
The post Making the Most of your Pilot Line Coating Experience first appeared on Coating Tech Slot Dies.
View all episodes
By Coating Tech Slot Dies/wp-content/uploads/Making-the-Most-of-Your-Pilot-Line-Coating-Experience.mp3
Download Audio File
Pilot coating lines are available in a number of locations where coated product manufacturers can run experimental trials for new products, new components, and new processes to create new or improve existing products. Whether you’ve run a pilot trial or not, chances are there are tips and pointers that can help you get the maximum value out of the experience.
What do I need to have in place before running a coating trial?
There are three levels of process testing in coated product development starting with the small scale lab trial, followed by a pilot trial, and finally scaling up to production trials. In order to undertake a pilot trial, a product development team should have successful lab trials completed and plans for the next stage of scaling up for a pilot line trial.
Are we ready for a pilot coating trial?
Pilot coating trials are not inexpensive, and often product development teams want to rush to this phase of the project. For best preparation you should have the following in place:
What is a realistic budget for the typical coating trial?
There is no single answer to the budget question. Depending upon a company’s readiness and in-house preparation, the budget could be as small as $24,000 or as large as $144,000 (not including material costs). The more experts involved and the more days on-site at a pilot coating line, the more the process will cost. Keep in mind that while the development budget may seem large and time consuming, process and product enhancements and problem solving happens much more quickly and inexpensively on a pilot line than they do on the manufacturing floor. It is good practice to fund trials generously to uncover potential issues, repeat successes, and go to manufacturing with confidence in your product and process.
What is a realistic timeline for a typical coating trial?
While every project has unique aspects and variables, the average coating trial project takes about six months from beginning to end. Obviously, this can vary if the trial includes adjustments on a small number of variables and increase if the complexity of the project is significant, but typically very beginning to very end entails about 6 months of scheduling.
How can I choose a pilot coating site?
Pilot sites seem to be popping up everywhere…at manufacturing companies, educational institutions, and at consulting firms. Fortunately, most include very specific information about the equipment available and experts available. Costs can vary widely, but services offered in terms of expert assistance can vary widely, as well. Make sure you are choosing a site suited for your needs, then compare the value competitive sites offer for your project.
What kinds of results can I expect from a pilot coating trial?
Companies generally enter into a pilot line coating trial to learn:
What experts should I have on-site during a coating trial?
This question can vary widely based upon the experience level of your team. You may choose to have a coating consultant on hand, a process engineer, a chemist, a web handling expert, a manufacturing engineer, or other subject matter expert for reference. Some pilot coating sites have individuals with this expertise available on site.
Top suggestion:
If you are new to pilot coating, plan at least a day longer on the coating line than you think you will need. Inevitably, the very best ideas for design of experiment come at the end of the day and one more day on the pilot line could make a very significant positive impact on your project.
The post Making the Most of your Pilot Line Coating Experience first appeared on Coating Tech Slot Dies.