Profit Potential
A UV coating system can generate higher profits per hour than other types of finishing systems. The examples below illustrate how a UV-cured powder coating system can make you more profit.
Footprint
A UV-cured powder coating system typically has a smaller footprint then other finishing systems. For example an average UV coating system has a footprint of 2,000 square feet compared to a Thermal powder coating system with a footprint of 6,440 square feet.
Assuming a cost of $7.50 per square foot, the annual cost of the UV-cured powder system is $15,000 and the annual cost of a Thermal powder coating system is $48,300.
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Operating Cost Savings per Day
Cost of Energy
The UV-cured powder coating system consumes 158 kW/h of energy compared to the Thermal system’s 461 kW/h. Using a cost of energy of $.1688/kW/h the UV system costs $26.67 per hour of operation. The Thermal system costs $77.82 per hour of operation. On a 2,000 hour production shift the UV coating system saves $102,293 in energy cost.
Throughput
The chart below illustrates the capacity advantage of a UV-cured powder coating system compared to a Thermal powder coating system. Because the UV system is has a shorter line length; the system reaches optimum capacity faster.
Time Advantage of UV vs. Thermal Powder Coating System
|
Length ft. |
Speed ft/min |
Preheat min |
Melt/Cure min |
Plant Size Sq. ft |
Avg Parts per hour |
Energy kWh |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UV | 200 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 2500 | 550 | 158 |
| Thermal | 321 | 10 | 2 | 5 | 6440 | 520 | 461 |
1 part change= 2 line rotations
Time & Temperature
A UV-cured powder coating system has similar processing steps to a Thermal powder coating system, but has critical time and temperature advantages. These advantages increase product throughput makes part change overs faster, and decreases time waiting for parts to cool. These advantages increase operating profits per hour.
The graph below plots the time and temperature sequences and operational steps of UV coating and Thermal coating.
Profit Per Hour
A smaller plant footprint, less energy consumption, greater capacity, increased process flexibility, and lower powder costs prove UV-cured powder coatings make more profits/hour!
