Tailor-made at standard prices is the motto of Kempa Keukendeuren, a company that produces individual kitchen cabinet doors and kitchen furniture in the Herentals in the Belgian region of Flanders.
“We don’t have mass production or a warehouse, every order is tailor-made for the customer,” explains Filip Laureyssen, Marketing Manager at Kempa. “However, because we still want our products to be affordable, we take every opportunity to increase our efficiency. Our high quality is not impaired under any circumstances. “
Against this background, Kempa has decided to no longer coat some of its MDF panels with liquid, but to use a Wagner powder coating system.
Customer demand meets efficient production
Two influencing factors came together here. First, customers – who are mainly from Belgium and the Netherlands – are increasingly asking for powder-coated MDF panels, as these are usually cheaper and more durable. “You have to understand that powder coating of MDF is much more widespread in Belgium than in Germany,” explains Filip Laureyssen.
“From our point of view, the technology has only just reached a level where we wanted to use it.”
Wagner has developed a new process for coating MDF panels that has been available since 2014. The technical core are devices that, thanks to an innovative new charge distribution, can achieve a flawless electrostatic powder coating.
The challenge when powder coating MDF panels is to charge the wood electrostatically. For this purpose Wagner has developed special units that enable an optimal powder coating on standard MDF boards through an innovative new load distribution – as used by the kitchen cabinet door manufacturer Kempa in Herentals, Belgium.
Second, Kempa wanted to make production more efficient and, above all, to save working time. “With the new system, two employees create several kitchens every day. Powder coating is more than twice as fast as liquid coating, and we can process the workpieces immediately without any drying time, ”says Filip.
At the same time, the process improves quality: in just one step, a layer is applied that is not only cheaper, but also more resistant and durable.
New PXM powder center in use
After detailed consultation with Alexander Buchmüller, Business Development and Sales Manager (MDF) at Wagner, Kempa decided on a Wagner plastic booth in connection with field control technology, ten PEA XL C4 automatic guns and the PXM powder center.
“We only brought the powder center onto the market shortly before ordering from Kempa,” recalls Alexander. “It was perfect for this task as it guarantees an optimal powder supply both from a powder container and directly from the box.”
The system was installed in Herentals in February 2015 and has been in daily operation since May 2015.
Five of the automatic PEA XL C4 pistols from Wagner are each mounted on two reciprocating pistons and offer a seamless powder coating in a plastic booth. Wagner says this is not only cheaper, but also more durable and long-lasting than liquid coatings.
After the initial phase has largely been completed, Kempa is pleased with the result so far: “We are very satisfied with the service from Wagner. We would buy the system again without reservation, ”says Filip. “We have achieved our goals: higher quality with significantly less effort. At the same time, we can produce more and the capacity of our employees is freed up so that they can work more efficiently. Almost no complaints and cheaper and faster production – what more could you want? “
Filip concludes that Kempa’s customers are also satisfied with the new surface finish.
www.wagner-group.com
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