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For consistently high surface quality
The Black Forest-based Schreinerei Flaig has further developed its coating processes and relies on a ROBUSeco spray coating solution from BÜRKLE. The goal is to ensure consistently high surface quality regardless of batch size and product mix while significantly increasing production efficiency.
Schreinerei Flaig GmbH, based in Hardt in Baden-Württemberg, has stood for high-quality craftsmanship, creative interior construction and customized room solutions for more than 100 years. As a traditional yet modern craft business, Flaig combines craftsmanship precision with high standards in design, functionality and individuality. With around 75 highly qualified specialists, the company realizes projects that go far beyond classic furniture production and create holistic living spaces.
Flaig sees itself not only as a furniture manufacturer, but also as a partner for designing living and working environments. Every project begins with intensive consultation and an analysis of spatial requirements, followed by planning, design and implementation. On this basis, Flaig develops sophisticated concepts for office, conference and reception areas for companies as well as individually planned furniture and furnishing solutions for private customers throughout the entire living area, including custom-made kitchens and bathrooms.
Another key business area is serial production. As a specialized B2B partner, the company develops and manufactures composite elements, molded parts, CNC components and furniture parts ranging from individual pieces to large-scale production runs. Its strength lies in the combination of technical consulting, development expertise and flexible manufacturing: materials, structures and processes are optimized specifically for each project and supported through to series production readiness. Just-in-time delivery capability, high surface quality, downstream processing such as CNC machining, edge processing or coating, as well as a high level of service make Flaig a powerful project partner for industry, furniture manufacturers, partner joineries and demanding commercial customers.
Analyzing and redesigning the coating process
Due to its broad service portfolio, surface finishing plays a central role at Flaig. Coating not only gives the components their final appearance, but also ensures protection, value and a permanently consistent look and feel. Especially for demanding visible surfaces and changing projects, a precise and reproducible coating process is crucial in making the company’s high quality standards visible. The previous manual process required a great deal of time and personnel and therefore needed to be rethought. The challenge was to ensure the desired appearance reproducibly at all times, regardless of batch size and product mix.
Since this was the first implementation of this technology within the company’s own process, the investment decision was preceded by intensive market and technology research. Various spray coating solutions were analyzed, suppliers evaluated and the systems compared particularly with regard to automation level, process stability, reproducibility of surface quality as well as flexibility for changing components and batch sizes. Andreas Flaig, Process Manager at Flaig, describes the requirements as follows: "We wanted to partially automate the work steps while at the same time ensuring consistently high and uniform surface quality.”
In addition to the technical requirements, ease of operation, integration into existing processes, the service concept and long-term investment security were also important factors. After a structured comparison, Flaig decided in favor of a solution that reliably meets its quality standards while sustainably reducing the workload in production.
Faster production with consistent quality
A stand-alone ROBUSeco for water-based and solvent-based coating systems was ultimately installed. Compared to similar systems, the spray coating machine operates with three completely independent paint circuits, each with separate supply systems. At Flaig, four spray guns are used per paint circuit, ensuring clean coating application and therefore uniform surface results. During operation, Flaig produces batch sizes ranging from around 50 to 300 parts depending on the order. The system is currently operated by two employees. Thanks to the ROBUSeco’s plug-and-play automation solutions, operation with only one person would also be possible.
For implementation at the production site, the new coating solution was integrated smoothly into the existing processes. Installation was efficient and carried out without major interruptions to ongoing production. Together with all project partners, the necessary conditions were created so that the system was quickly ready for operation and the team could be trained safely within a short period of time.
The results are directly visible in production: quality is significantly more stable, scrap has been reduced to a very low level and coating jobs can now be processed much faster. Instead of taking around two days, many jobs can now be completed within just one to three hours. Flaig is particularly impressed by the uniform coating application, which reliably creates a clean and high-quality surface appearance.
"From the very beginning, BÜRKLE’s consulting and technology impressed us. After several months of production, our decision has been confirmed that the ROBUSeco is the right machine for our application. Compared to the previous process, we can now produce faster and more easily while maintaining the same quality,” summarizes Andreas Flaig.
For integration into the plant, the necessary structural and technical modifications were implemented, including exhaust air systems, silencers and a breakthrough to the drying room including fire protection doors. Installation of the spray technology including Wagner pumps was completed within three days, followed by commissioning one day later. With the ROBUSeco spray coating machine from BÜRKLE, Flaig replaces manual coating with a partially automated process, simplifying workflows, increasing efficiency and achieving consistently high surface quality.
