Maas Brothers Powder Coating
Sustainability and Lean Manufacturing
Highlights 1998-2024
1998
Maas Brothers Powder Coating Founded
2008
Conveyor System with Powder Recapture Installed
Including 5-Stage Closed Loop Wash/Pretreatment system (no drain)
Closed loop system fitlers and re-uses water, and includes a nano-particle non-chromate that dries in place.
2018
Conveyor System Upgraded and Optimized to Accommodate All Run Sizes and Colors With Powder Reclaim, Plus In-Line Automated Priming
New: Quick Color Change Booth with Powder Reclaim Capabilities. Allows for changing powder color in less than 10 minutes.
Retrofitted: Added Oscillating Powder Coating Guns to our Legacy Manual Booths to accommodate in-line automated two-coat needs, including priming. This means that each job now finishes in one conveyor turn (two hours).
New: Infrared Oven #1 facilitates our two-coat process by pre-gelling the first coat before parts move towards final powder coating.
New: Added a Cooling Tunnel after Infrared Oven #1 to safely prepare parts for final powder coating.
New: Infrared Oven #2 allows for enhanced IR: initial gelling of powder on parts before they enter the Curing Oven, so load bars with different colored parts can hang closer on the line without cross-contamination issues.
Adapted and Re-Imagined: Legacy Automated Powder Coating Booths remain, and are used with our most popular white powder. Floor tracks added so we can easily push these booths on and off the line as needed.
2020
COVID: Essential Work Plus Improved Efficiencies
Continued essential work while pursuing process improvements that now allow us to complete more with one shift. Upgraded procedures for reusing and recycling packaging materials as well as fixtures and bars.
2021
New Energy Use Reduction Efforts
New: More energy-efficient diesel trucks replaced entire older fleet.
New: Electric forklifts. More efficient charging stations installed.
Upgraded: LED lighting throughout facility.
2022-2023
Lean Manufacturing Initiatives
Initial Focus: Improving whole business efficiencies, including space use, work flows, powder coating processes, QA controls, powder inventory management, installing state-of-the-art manufacturing software, more…
2024
Lean Manufacturing Initiatives Continue
Top Priority: Commit to specific carbon emission reduction targets, and confirm a plan for measuring and reporting change.