With many fabricators seeing their outsourced spraying costs rising year on year, Guy Hubble, Joint Managing Director at RegaLead, explains just how easy it can be to bring painting in-house…
With colour continuing to dominate the windows and doors market, and customer demand driving this even further, many fabricators will be seeing their outsourced painting costs rapidly rising year on year.
So when is the tipping point that makes you ask yourself if it would benefit your business to bring painting in-house?
The benefits are obvious. You can maintain full control of your whole production process, ensuring the very best quality for your customers. You’ll be able to achieve perfect matching colours across each job, offer a wider palette, cut unnecessary transportation and admin, and improve efficiency.
But you might also ask if it’s going to be too expensive to set up – is it going to be cost effective? Have I got enough spare space? What equipment will I need and how will I find staff who can use it? Today we will explore the answers to these obvious and understandable questions…
Equipment
Like any department of your manufacturing facility, an in-house paint shop is going to need kitting out with an array of quality equipment. There’s no need for this to be a point of concern though as we work closely with our equipment partners to provide everything that you require. We can set up a range of systems, from the very small allowing minor component colour-coating, to full-scale, high-capacity operations.
Schuberts are specialists in stand-alone finishing equipment and turn-key integrated systems, providing spray booths alongside their state-of- the-art Schubox catalytic infrared drying system.
We also partner with SATA who are the market leader in the supply of paint spraying equipment with a range covering guns, PPE, filtration and all essential equipment. We have a range of paint mixing solutions from pre-mixed options to fully automated dispensing equipment.
From the smallest paintshop to a large custom-designed automated facility, we can equip you with everything you need.
Space
A basic paint shop can be established in a relatively small area – starting from as little as 1,000ft2.
RegaLead and Schuberts Finishing both have vast experience of designing space-efficient paint shops, with versatile solutions for those with restricted space.
Training
Finding suitably skilled employees is one of the biggest challenges that manufacturers continue to face across all aspects of their business.
To address this issue, we have invested heavily into a state-of-the-art training facility in Manchester, where we offer high-quality, structured training in all aspects of paint spraying, from practical, to effective health & safety procedures, and paint shop management. We have worked closely with SprayTrain and GQA on the development of a course and are now able to offer an industry recognised, certified and accredited course.
Compliance
When it comes to manufacturing, it is vital that your facility achieves compliance with official regulations in every department. When you are introducing paint, along with other hazardous materials into your factory, it’s understandable that you may feel a little nervous about entering a potential minefield of regulations.
With our own in-house spray facilities and training experience, we are ideally positioned to walk you through all the requirements, whether this be advice, assistance with documentation or legislative training.
Costings and Return on Investment
Adopting any new process in a factory requires a comprehensive understanding of materials costings, timings and any potential variables.
With accurate calculation of material costs and demonstrable timings, we’re able to produce a granular costing model that allows you to assign paint shop costs on a job-by-job basis. This, paired with a comprehensive and an accurate initial investment proposal, will enable you to properly understand the length of time it will take to repay your initial investment.
Tipping point
Earlier we asked what the tipping point should be to make the decision to bring painting in-house.
Based purely on a cost and ROI calculation, customer experience has shown us that if you are spending as little as £75,000 per year on outsourcing painting, then it can be more than justified.
However, this should be based on more than a simple financial calculation. Setting up your own painting division enables you to deliver the best service, maintain reliability, and take full control of your entire production process.
From small installations for painting a few trims, to full-scale production lines, we love helping customers to bring colour in-house.
To discuss your individual requirements in greater detail, get in touch and we’ll be happy to paint you a picture of just how easy it can be!