Leyland Trucks – Our coating solutions for a legend in the automotive industry.
It’s always a pleasure to work with companies who’ve stood the test of time in their industry. Especially those who have shaped the manufacturing history of the UK and even overseas in one way or another.
And our long-standing client Leyland Trucks fits that bill perfectly.
Leyland has been a staple and respected member of the automotive industry since it formed under Leyland Motors in 1896.
And even though they have faced both triumphs and hardships over the years, they’ve continued to evolve; they’re still going strong and representing a Great British automotive legacy under the name Leyland Trucks Ltd.
Our Client’s Problem…
Earlier this year, Phil, the Senior Maintenance Engineer, reached out to us as they needed our expertise and custom non-stick coatings at their site in Lancashire.
In fact, this was a classic case of déjà vu…
They’d used our service in 2013 when they were looking for a long-lasting coating to apply to the workhorses of their busy paint shop:
The Extraction Fans.
The extraction fans are vital in the paint shops, as an ongoing stream of trucks gets painted in these booths.
And when these booths are fully operational, they leave behind paint residue and other airborne materials that could negatively affect the following cars trucks are coming through the production line.
So, these fans are designed solely to help keep the excess airborne particles out of the booths and get the new trucks that “showroom” look.
As a result, the fans get coated with tons of deposits that often cause an imbalance in the fan when it rotates, reducing its efficiency and even breaking down completely.
Another negative impact on paint build-up means regular cleaning of the excess paint, which
Increasing the downtime of the line reduces truck production, which of course, will eventually hit the bottom line…
Which for a modern manufacturer who is dealing with ever-smaller margins, is a big problem.
The Job…
Phil needed a solution, and we had just the correct battle-tested application for this job, our PR245W non-stick coating.
We choose PR245W as its proven time and time again its properties as an excellent no-stick coating, chemical resistance, and also its longevity, especially in a paint booth environment.
(In fact, other coatings have an expected life span of around two years, whereas it was a full eight years since our last coating was applied before we got a call.)
Without wasting any time, we took delivery of the extraction fans, and our team got to work.
The fans were in a pretty sorry state, so the first job was to strip them down to their original steel material, so they were placed in our on-site Pyrolysis oven.
This thermal cleaning process gets rid of all residues, including the old coating, and any dirt is also vaporised due to the extremely high temperatures.
Next was the grit-blasting process.
This treatment offers a clean surface to work on and provides an optimal surface for the initial primer to stick to. Next, the final coating was applied stove dried at 380 deg C.
And as the PR245W is a two-coat system, the fans were in and out of our shop in no time and on their way up the M6 Motorway back home to Leyland.
The Result…
I’m pleased to say that Phil over at Leyland Trucks Ltd was more than satisfied with the finished product.
We’d delivered a coating with great paint release properties, so they can be easily wiped down during their scheduled cleaning.
And in the long term, reduce downtime and save money in repairing or replacing these extraction fans. Which only can only please the company accountants by lowering production costs overall.
(Let’s hope they get another eight years of work before seeing those fans again.)
Can We Help?
At Product Release, we deliver proven solutions for your non-stick needs, resulting in less downtime, higher throughput, more efficient manufacturing processes, and cost savings across your particular industry.
Although we’re highly adaptable and can take on your bespoke projects, we’re also specialists in several industries, including:
- Automotive
- Bakery & Food Production
- Oil & Gas
- Printing & Packaging
- Aerospace
- Chemical Processing
- Pharmaceutical
If you have a project you wish to discuss, please do not hesitate to email paul.storer@product-release.com. Contact Paul 07384147859 directly for a chat to see how we can help.
