The Ven Spray One is the ideal solution for the trade
Coating solutions for trade businesses are less about machine utilisation and more about flexibility, speed and reducing the workload of the few employees. Since this year, the Kalm-bach joinery has been industrial finishing with the Ven Spray One, a semi-automatic coating solution. The latest development from Venjakob is orientated towards the requirements of the trade. The machine's delivery time of just four weeks was another important decision criterion for Stephan Kalmbach.
Uncomplicated, flexible and fast - this is what interior fitters Kalmbach are known for among their customers, who come from all over Germany. The medium-sized family business, based in the tranquil town of Simmersfeld, a climatic health resort in the northern Black Forest, is run by Rudolf and Stephan Kalmbach. On approx. 2500 square metres of factory space, 20 employees work on the high-quality processing of wood. These later create a stylish feel-good ambience in the interiors of hotels, clinics, wellness centres and upmarket restaurants.
Variety is the order of the day
In a joinery of Kalmbach's size, different objects are scheduled for surface treatment every day. Sometimes wide wooden panels, sometimes many narrow mouldings are industrially finished. The part geometries depend on the interior fitting projects. The coatings used also vary. Until the beginning of 2022, everything still had to be sprayed and stained by hand. "Our surface department was permanently overloaded. We were already thinking about purchasing a spraying robot before the coronavirus pandemic. But, as always, we didn't have time to deal with it," says Stephan Kalmbach looking back. The new year was to change that. Master carpenter Stephan and his father Rudolf Kalmbach therefore used the time around the turn of the year to do some initial research into a supplier for a suitable coating solution, including Venjakob. "Admittedly, even as a little boy, my heart beat for Venjakob Coating machines. But they were a size too big for us," admits Kalmbach with a grin. With the Ven Spray One, the coating system specialist Venjakob launched a single solution for semi-automatic coating on the market in 2020 that is also affordable for smaller companies and is geared towards their requirements. the Ven Spray One coats with four spray guns that are evenly controlled by a powerful linear drive. The workpieces to be processed can be a minimum of 25 mm and a maximum of 1300 mm wide.
Short delivery time was a decisive factor
The positive decision in favour of the Venjakob machine was based on various factors. "When we decided to invest in a machine, we wanted everything to happen quickly. Only Venjakob could promise us the desired delivery time of four weeks," says Stephan Kalmbach, praising the entire process. Firstly, Venjakob organised a visit to a joinery in southern Germany so that the Kalmbachs could experience the coating machine in action. "Nothing was too much trouble for our contact at Venjakob. We were even able to call him during his skiing holiday. From the slopes, he organised a weekend visit to the Venjakob technical centre at the company site in Rheda-Wiedenbrück at short notice." At the technical centre, Stephan and Rudolf Kalmbach measured the machine in detail. They realised that the space provided in the factory was not sufficient for the machine. Another solution had to be found.
Machine intelligently integrated
The next step was to use the remaining four weeks during ongoing operations to create space for the new painting machine. "It was clear to us that we would first set up the Coating machine and then build the room with drying walls around it." kalmbach came up with a special feature when integrating the new coating machine, which was installed and commissioned within the promised four weeks. The wall at the rear of the machine with the workpiece output has been given a mirror. The purpose of this is to allow a single machine operator to keep an eye on everything from input to output. He feeds the parts to be coated to the front of the machine via a driven 1.8 metre long roller conveyor and can see in the mirror when the workpiece comes out of the machine ready for coating. A roller conveyor has also been installed at the rear. "This makes loading and unloading faster and easier. It is also more cost-efficient because you can utilise the entire transport width of the coating lines. Otherwise you would have to feed each part individually," explains Tim Stender, Sales Engineer at Venjakob. He points out that it is difficult to fully utilise the working width without a roller conveyor, especially with longer components, because you have to wait until the largest part of the workpiece has been drawn in by the machine before you can release it. During this time, no other parts can be inserted. If you have the space available, you should therefore use a driven roller conveyor for loading and unloading, recommends Stender.
Half the time saved
Approximately four months after commissioning the Ven Spray One, the conclusion is that the workload has been reduced across the board. "We save a significant amount of time when industrial finishing. What took three to four days on the manual spray stand is now finished in 1.5 days. And the quality is consistently high. We can now utilise the freed-up capacity of our employees in other ways. The Venjakob salesman was also pleased to hear from Stephan Kalmbach that the Coating machine fulfils far more than promised. "For example, we don't give a general promise for the processing of stain. We would do test runs beforehand. At Kalmbach, they tried it out themselves and were completely satisfied with the result."
