Door Industry Journal - Winter 2021

75 THE door industry journal winter 2021 Also online at: www.dijonline.co.uk Domestic Garage Doors Aluroll Makes Further Investments into Growth with New Powder Coating Plant A custom-built powder coating facility has been commissioned in the Aluroll factory. The company has always prided itself on its ability to maintain full control of the end-to-end manufacture process, although increased customer demand had pushed the existing manual powder coating facility to its maximum capacity. The new, bespoke machinery fully automates the entire process, providing faster lead times with the ability to turn around three times the number of doors. Finish quality has also improved significantly, with fewer imperfections, more consistent thickness and better longevity than ever before. The process works as follows: Stage 1: Preparation A 5-step dip tank system ensures all parts are cleaned, phosphatized and sealed to reduce surface imperfections and ensure the highest level of powder adhesion. From here the components are moved onto an automated conveyor track. Stage 2: Spraying The door makes its way into the powder coating booth, where four automatic spray guns have been loaded with the customer’s choice of RAL/BS colour. The powder has been sieved in its storage tanks before spraying and cyclone technology ensures particles are dispersed evenly. Air is filtered and cleaned and the door moves along the track into the oven. Stage 3: Baking 9m long gas-fired ovens use channelled air for even heat distribution. At 220° the finish is ‘baked’ onto the surface, where it hardens to form the final coating. Stage 4: Cooling The components continue along the tracked system and exit the oven on the opposite side, where they hang to cool from the tracks. While this is happening other items are already undergoing the initial stages of the process. The powder coating plant is housed in a brand new factory extension and is the latest in a line of investments to support Aluroll’s continued growth. A new Acra machine has already automated roller garage door manufacture, from cutting the profiles to making the curtains and rolling the finished door ready for packaging, and significantly increased output as a result. Barry Mahon, Production Director, said: “This is a very exciting time for Aluroll. We are scaling production to meet customer demand and it was critical to us that this didn’t mean compromising our service levels or product quality. We feel prepared for the future, and even have some new product development in the works at the moment. Therefore while this year has shown major progress, we have even more in the works for 2022!”. www.aluroll.co.uk Have you followed our Twitter page yet? We post news everyday! www.twitter.com/DoorIndustryJnl