When shopping for a new car, selecting the color of your vehicle is one of the most exciting decisions, yet most consumers don't realize what goes into the process of painting each part of the vehicle.
Keep reading to learn more about a manufacturer of molded automotive spoilers that required a change to their paint masking process that was costing them time, money, and even employee safety.
The Application Challenge: Safe and Efficient Paint Masking
Our customer, a plastic injection molder and painter of automotive body parts needed a custom solution for their automotive spoilers. Spoilers are an aerodynamic part designed to "spoil" unwanted air movement across a vehicle's body, decreasing drag and lift and improving vehicle stability. The spoilers are aesthetically painted to match or complement the vehicle, but the part has surfaces that need to remain paint-free, hence the need for masking.
Spoilers can be mounted to the vehicle using adhesives or mechanical fasteners. If using an adhesive, an unpainted surface provides a better option for bonding than a surface covered by paint. If using bolts for attachment, paint can build up in thread inserts if installation requires bolts for attachment.
The dimensions of a spoiler are complex, meaning the surfaces requiring masking are difficult to cover using traditional rolls. Manually hand-cutting strips or tape from rolls to mask an area resulted in employee injuries and was very time consuming. The makeshift process was also prone to inconsistent results.
An example of the complex shape of an automotive spoiler. This image is just a representation and not the actual car or spoiler in this story.
Marian's Solution: Custom, Die-Cut Paint Masking Strips
Marian suggested 3M™ High-Performance Green Masking Tape 401+ for custom masks. This masking tape can be easily die-cut into precise shapes and sizes. The tape adheres well to plastic surfaces, even through painting and bake cycles, and can be removed cleanly and easily. 401+ is also recommended for its ability to provide sharp, well defined paint lines. We laminated the custom cut masks to a split butterfly liner for simple handling and removal.
Sample parts were provided to the customer within 48 hours. Upon testing, the prototypes satisfied all of the customer's material and productivity requirements. This gave them the confidence to approve the project.
The die-cut strips ultimately increased the process speed by 300%. Rejections due to tape peeling/lifting, paint bleed-through, or strip misalignment was reduced by 75%, and despite the increase in material costs, overall expenses were reduced by 60%.
Pre-cut strips eliminated the need for assemblers to use sharp blades during masking. The improved safety, along with increased productivity and consistency, ultimately resulted in employees reporting feelings of pride and satisfaction because they were able to deliver more uniform results.
An example of die-cut paint masking tape applied to a spoiler. The tape is cut to the exact dimensions required for masking, reducing time spent on masking and expenses due to rejection.
Key Takeaways: Why You Should Work with Marian for Custom Masking
- Marian's engineers combine deep material expertise with strong relationships across the industry's leading material suppliers. With a broad in-house inventory of the world's best thin, flexible materials, we're ready to move quickly on prototyping and sampling.
- Our goal is to improve our customers' processes and products. Marian's focus on "Design for Manufacturing" (DFM) allowed us to learn the customer's pain points and design a solution that was easy for quick and clean removal using the split butterfly liners.
- Marian engineers designed a custom solution for much faster and safer installations while reducing labor costs and the number of reworks.
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Marian, Inc. is an ISO 9001 certified converter of custom die-cut components made from flexible materials. We partner with leading material suppliers, and our global capacity is unmatched. This Marian application story, along with many others, uniquely demonstrates our state-of-the-art custom converting capabilities including die cutting, lamination, design for manufacturing, and more. Please contact us today to learn more or to request a quote, prototype, or material sample.
