Looking Ahead: Trends in Industrial Paint Booths and Finishing for 2022

If there is one lesson to be learned after the crises and challenges of the past few years, it’s that in business and manufacturing, it’s risky to rely on the processes and techniques of the past. Successful companies need to look ahead and prepare for the future. Planning needs to account for change rather than relying on the status quo.

There is opportunity and risk even in established tools and industries like industrial paint booths and finishing.

An Overview of Paint Booth Tools and Technology

While paint booths and industrial paint finishes are standard in a variety of industries from automotive, aerospace, construction, agriculture and more, that doesn’t mean that new tools and technologies aren’t providing opportunities and a competitive edge for adopters.

Rising costs, increased market demand and supply chain challenges have raised the cost of paints, materials, and supplies. With overall inflation and markets weary of endless waves of cost increases, it pays for manufacturers to look at methods to reduce costs and increase production. Many of the trends we see in the industry directly address these pressures.

The Industrial Paint Booth and Finishing Industry

Here are the trends we see shaping the spray booth and finishing industry in 2022:

Conservation and Environmental Responsibility

There is a push toward conservation and environmental responsibility in manufacturing.

This isn’t driven just by altruistic motives and a concern for the environment, but also market demand. Consumers seek out and purchase from companies that share their values. Consumers care about sustainability and environmental responsibility, and products that are made sustainably are easier to sell.

In addition, considering rising material and energy costs, conservation helps companies to reduce their expenditures and boost profitability.

There are several opportunities for manufacturers to improve sustainability with industrial paint booth operations:

• Reducing emissions of compounds, including CO₂. Look for companies to continue to explore low-solvent and more environmentally friendly paint options. Alternatives to oil-based paints are another area of opportunity.

• Reducing energy and material use in the paint and finishing process. There are several opportunities to reduce energy usage in paint and finishing. Alternatives to the traditional air conditioning and temperature control in the drying process using a modified paint booth can reduce the energy necessary for drying.

Keep an eye out for industry manufacturers and suppliers to continue to address sustainability. By taking advantage of sustainable system and product offerings, over time, the savings you see in material and energy usage will only increase.

Leveraging New Techniques to Improve Efficiency

Beyond sustainability, there are additional opportunities to address waste in the industrial paint booth and finishing industry. For example, a three-layer wet paint system, utilizing a single application of primer, base and topcoat without the interim drying requirements, will reduce energy consumption and CO₂ emissions.

While this isn’t a new technique, it’s one being adopted by more companies that are seeing promising results in efficiency improvement. Don’t be afraid to pilot new tools and technologies at your facility.

Automation and Reduced Labor Requirements

Automation is a critical component in industry, especially as the lack of skilled labor continues to be an issue in manufacturing. As demand increases, manufacturers are seeing fewer available workers in the job market. A bidding war for new employees is driving up costs. To meet demand, companies need to better support and increase production using their current employees.

Many manufacturers are turning to automation and automated manufacturing tools to meet this challenge. In addition to reducing demand on employees, automation also improves consistency and repeatability in finish quality.

Robotics have long been a critical component of the spray booths, but you should look for companies to continue to invest in robotics and sensors as they move skilled labor and human resources to higher priority tasks, letting manufacturers rely on automation where they can.

If you’d like to learn more about your automation options, then contact the OTC automation team or review available products on our ecommerce site.

Predictive Maintenance and a Focus on Filters

Regularly scheduled maintenance is critical for maintaining the productivity and consistency of paint and spray booth operations. Many companies have established a preventative maintenance schedule for the paint booth, which will reduce equipment failure, increase efficiency, and decrease production costs as long as you are using the right filters and intake.

Today, with sensors and better data collection, you can improve maintenance and operation by using predictive maintenance. Fluctuations in data can alert service personnel to a potential problem. Rather than manually monitoring the spray booth’s differential pressure gauge, set alerts and notifications for the sensor so you can be alerted when the readings go beyond the manufacturer’s specifications. Additional automation tools like temperature, fan speed, exhaust system monitoring and paint usage can also provide a warning when there is a maintenance issue.

While many companies may not see the need for predictive maintenance if there is a preventative maintenance schedule in place, we expect more companies to implement it. The improvements in efficiency, the reduction in repair and maintenance costs, the elimination of human error, and improvements in safety (clogged filters cause a higher risk of dangerous conditions in the booth) will more than pay for the investment.

Getting Ahead in 2022

The past few years have brought manufacturers crises, problems and issues, but from it we’re also seeing opportunities. We expect strong growth and additional work. People are ready to get back to work and to embrace the normal. Manufacturers need to be ready to meet the demand.

The industrial paint booth and finishing industry is no different. If you want to capture that growth and capitalize on opportunity, then manufacturing leaders need to be ready to embrace new technologies and systems.

Rather than letting opportunity pass you by, prepare now by reaching out to the technical experts at OTC Industrial Technologies to discuss your goals and review your options. Let them go over their comprehensive products and services and look at how they can save you money and increase efficiency.

2022 is the year manufacturers need to embrace improvement and set aside the status quo, and OTC is ready with the solutions and technical expertise necessary.