When you think about it, the mixing process for colour formulations has not changed for eons. Despite the high tech methods of identifying a vehicle colour and looking up the correct formulation, a person (generally a painter) still has to physically measure out the various ingredients. For painters who are employed primarily for their painting skill, this can be a real pain, especially over a long work day and when tiny amounts need to be added. It’s well and truly time for a new solution and that is PPG’s self-contained, automated mixing system, dubbed
MoonWalk.
Manual mixing is not easy or accurate
During the
MoonWalk research phase, PPG’s Digital Customer Experience team visited hundreds of collision centres and observed literally tens of thousands of formulation mixes. What they found was a common ‘pain point’. An incredible one in five mixes (that is 20%) had a deviation in the amount of at least one tinter which can affect colour accuracy unless the operator rescales the formula. When they do rescale, it means mixing a larger quantity which potentially creates material waste. What’s more, painters typically said that mixing paint was a task they would be happy to give up.
Self-contained solution
Given its impressive capabilities, all the features of
MoonWalk have been packaged into a compact cabinet measuring just two metres by one metre. Inside there is a 13-position dispensing rack, along with 80 tinter storage spaces. In addition, there is everything else that is required, including a RAPIDMATCH
® Go spectrophotometer, a set of scales, a built-in computer with PAINTMANAGER
® XI software and a label printer.
After taking a spectro reading, downloading it to the computer and selecting the appropriate colour formulation (just as a painter does now),
MoonWalk produces a ready to spray mix with one click:
Step 1. PaintManager XI displays the selected colour formulation
Step 2. The operator loads the necessary tinters, etc onto one of the 13 slots on the dispensing rack
Step 3. The tinter bottles can be loaded in any sequence because
MoonWalk uses a bottle scanning system to verify each tinter before dispensing
Step 4.
MoonWalk selects each of the required tinters and automatically dispenses the correct amount from each one
Step 5.
MoonWalk communicates results to PaintManager XI
Several key factors contribute to the
MoonWalk’s incredible accuracy. Firstly, it’s fitted with an ultra-accurate moving scale which is precise to 0.01 grams – that is 10 times more precise than standard paint shop scales! In addition,
MoonWalk is programmed to hit its target each and every time. Although it starts the pour quite quickly, it will them become extremely careful as it zeroes in on the target. What’s more,
MoonWalk doesn’t get tired, hungover, cranky or emotional and it doesn’t matter how many mixes it has already done that day.
Freeing painters do what they are paid for
The average time for an operator to set a
MoonWalk mix cycle in motion is just two minutes. While the cycle itself will take longer than that and will depend on the complexity of the formulation, the point is that the operator, who is typically a painter, doesn’t need to stay and watch. As a result, that person is free to go and do some sort of productive task, such as masking the job, etc.
MoonWalk also minimises mess in the mixing process.
Return on investment
Thanks to its ability to reduce waste, it has been calculated that
MoonWalk can save up to 9% of waterborne tinter consumption. While it’s worth looking at your own paint account to work out what this impressive statistic means to your business in dollar terms, it’s actually only part of the potential savings that contribute to its return on investment. The fact that painters are freed from the mixing task means they can use that time on other productive tasks which then improves general shop productivity.
While we are talking about the human factor,
MoonWalk has the potential to virtually eliminate human error. Not only does this mean less time used to correct mixing mistakes, it also means that the possibility of an inaccurate mix and, hence, a rework is minimised. Any labour time that would have been spent correcting reworks can then be spent on live jobs which helps to improve productivity and profitability. Taking into account the many different ways that
MoonWalk contributes to shop productivity, it has been calculated that it can begin providing a return on investment in less than 12 months, depending on the size of the collision centre!
Setting a new standard
- Robust, low maintenance and easy to use
- Maximises colour accuracy
- Minimises waste
- Frees up time for painters
- Short time for return on investment