Estimating For Paint Lines (Part 1 of 2)

What is a paint line?

Paint lines comprise equipment that cleans, dips, sprays paint, and ovens to dry the parts. Paint lines are very capital-intensive and often take up hundreds to thousands of square feet of space. They can be both wet paint or powder coat systems.  Why do we need a formula for paint line estimating?

Paint lines are very costly and, therefore, you want to be able to make your money back from this large capital investment. Not only do you want to earn your money back but you want your pricing to be competitive in the market. Many job shops seem to now have their own paint lines instead of sending their manufactured parts to a painter. Suppliers who have done their own painting for years have developed formulas or techniques, which they use to estimate jobs. For accurate costing, job shops must now have formulas for the jobs requiring paint lines; this is especially important if a shop wants to be both profitable and competitive in the market.

Estimating has become more of a science than guesswork. Some goals of estimating are to have repeatable processes and consistent costs. Below, you will find specific variables that make up a formula for costing paint lines. Some of the variables include adjustments for special situations, like odd-sized parts or if the line has to go at different speeds.

Time To Reach XXX degreesCure TimeCure Temp AdjustmentParts Per SetLinear Feet Per SetCure TempConveyor Speed Override The next post will cover the actual formula that will be used with these variables; this should help us determine accurate costing.