How coatings can transform your business…
When it comes to manufacturing, component wear and tear and system downtime may just seem like part of the maintenance programme. But what if something as simple as coatings, could help improve operational capabilities? Taylors of Harrogate turned to Marcote for advice.
Marcote had been working with the engineering team at Taylors of Harrogate for some time, facilitating several smaller coating projects. So when the engineering teams met at an exhibition, a full site visit followed and a new idea was struck.
The lead engineer at Taylors of Harrogate was keen to develop engineering solutions that could translate across the production line and, support the team in developing a growth mindset. It quickly became clear, during discussions with Marcote, that coatings can offer part of the solution and a training session with key members of the engineering team was scheduled.
With the date set, the session covered the basics of coatings, what they are, the purpose of them and the key benefits. Marcote also provided the engineers with a series of examples of how different types of coatings can be used throughout a manufacturing facility.
The challenge set but the engineering reliability manager was for the team to start thinking differently. To question why there is excessive wear on some of the components, and why some are failing but crucially, for the solution to not always be a replacement.
Enabling manufacturers to improve productivity by reducing unplanned maintenance and mitigating against product failure can reap dividends for a company and coatings are a great example of this.
Commenting on the session, Sam Woodcock at Marcote said: “Every site and application that we work on is completely different, but the benefits coatings can bring are universal. That’s why it’s so great to be able to impart some knowledge and help the engineering team at Taylors of Harrogate to think a little differently about the components they are working with day in and day out.”
As one of the first knowledge share sessions Marcote has delivered, the team went in armed with lots of materials and samples to help build understanding. Likewise, the Taylors of Harrogate engineering team shared specific examples of product issues and failures and provided some parts for discussion.
Lee Morrall, Engineering Reliability Manager at Taylors of Harrogate, said: “it’s worked wonders with our team and their train of thought towards improvements.”
Mutually beneficial, the Taylors of Harrogate team now have a greater understanding of the role that coatings can play in the maintenance routine – what to look for and equally what to ask for. For Marcote the team has built a better knowledge around what customers and the market understand about coatings, the costs associated with them and some of the challenges that businesses face.
Sam at Marcote said: “It was an interesting session and certainly something we would consider doing again with other companies. It was really refreshing to see both sides of the business case through the engineering teams eyes and will help us with our communications to them and other businesses in the future.”
Marcote is currently trialling a coating process on some sample parts that are non-stick and anti-static. The results of the work will be available in the coming weeks when they will be returned to Taylors of Harrogate for a full trial.
