Semi-automatic painting system for outdoor supplies

If we were asked to find a connection between our work and our clients’, it wouldn’t be easy at all, since we operate in very different industries.

In the case of Ethimo, however, the task is much easier: just as we provide the instruments to coat objects and components in the best possible way, this company gives its customers the opportunity to coat their outdoor spaces with style and color.

About Ethimo

Never as in recent years have we felt the need to live our outdoor spaces. No longer simple extensions of our homes, terraces and gardens now force us to pay attention to nature, breathing and our quality of life. Green has become, in short, wellness and philosophy of life.

Ethimo is a family-owned company founded in 2009, leader in the world of outdoor furniture and gardening.

Over the past year, the Viterbo-based company has sought to internalize the coating phase of its high-end products within the factory. Implementing the production process with an in-house coating system allows to “perform greater quality control, since the processing is carried out in-house, as well as the possibility to customize the product according to the client’s requirements in a more efficient manner“. As said by company’s owner.

Pre-treating coatings with eco-sustainable processes

Ethimo turned to Chemtec to define the optimal pre-treatment solution for its products, in order for it to include the choice of a passivation product capable of ensuring high resistance to corrosion and excellent adhesion to coating.

As a company active in the outdoor and gardening industry, environmental safeguard was a priority. Chemtec itself recommended a PRONOTEC metal-free nanotechnological conversion. “A product that guarantees the same quality as a chromium-based treatment, yet with a far more environmentally sustainable process,” says Carlo Guidetti, CEO of Chemtec.

As for the last point, Ethimo’s commitment is evident: 82% of the company’s energy needs are guaranteed by photovoltaic panels, while all the wood used in the processes is FSC certified.

Eurotherm’s semi-automatic painting system

Another key factor in the implementation of the coating process was the system itself. A traditional coating system with a two-rail conveyor would not have been the right solution, as the company paints small batches of pieces that are very different from one another, with a wide range of colors and finishes.

We therefore decided to opt for a semi-automatic coating system with manual application of the coating: the operational flexibility guaranteed by the manual application of the coating is such that it is possible to carry out up to 15 color changes on a daily production run of 150 pieces.

The semi-automatic painting system created for Ethimo is therefore composed of the following elements:

Automatic washing cell
Powder coating booth with manual powder application group using dense phase technology
Two separate ovens for drying and polymerization
A manual overhead conveyor
A reverse osmosis system with 100lt/h capacity supplied by Chemtec
Management software for orders and production cycle on Mysql database for Industry 4.0

A logical and flexible coating flow

The pieces to be treated are deposited in the washing tunnel through an overhead conveyor. The chemical solutions that drip from the pieces being treated are collected in the tanks below and re-introduced into the cycle thorugh pumps and manifolds that feed the nozzle ramps. Each nozzle feeding pipe is located outside the cabin and is dedicated to a single washing phase: this avoids contamination of the different liquids.

At the bottom of the tunnel we have arranged the drainage sheets that lead the liquids back into the respective tanks. The nozzles are arranged in such a way as to hit uniformly the surface of the pieces to be treated, while a suction chamber, located at the entrance of the tunnel, sucks the vapors that escape from the treatment areas.

The hot tank is heated by a gas burner with a heat exchanger placed inside, while the static ovens are heated by an air vein burner.

The management software developed by Eurotherm for 4.0 industry

The cherry on top of Eurotherm’s semi-automatic painting system for Ethimo? The order and production cycle management software. The starting point was the dictates of Industry 4.0 and the Mysql database.

The architecture of the software involved the implementation of a dedicated Database server and control software managed by 15″ touch-screen panels positioned at the crucial points of the system: loading, painting and unloading stations.

It is the software itself that manages coatings, in order to optimize the work.

This way of configuring the IT component of the system enables the operator to keep the situation of the orders under control at all times, allowing them to modify data and parameters in real time.