Robotic Technology and It’s Impact on Painting Proves That Automation is in The Future

Hello, everyone. Again, another episode of Manufacturinger, Stronger Sander, here at FabTech twenty twenty three. I'm your host to Derek Degees president of Les USA and Degees Corporation, and I have a special guest here today. I have Tony Kirkgold, who is our lead of our paint department on our Degees side. Tony. Thanks for joining us today. Thank you for having me. Tony, this is your first time at BabTech. You're typically running and helping with r under the geese paint line and you're coming to Bell Help as our booth and our solutions continue to grow. We got to bring you along and you're doing the Lesta integrated by the geese instead of the the geese shirt So from black to blue, you're at Thabtec. What do you think? I tell you, it's it's an eye opener. A lot more people here kinda out of the paint booths a little bit. You're able to see different people around here. The different machines. The competitors, knowing that we have the last of robot. It's outstanding to see it out in public and see the reaction of other people instead of me being the paint booth. Yeah. Cool. So, Tony, you have a fascinating story. You're we were talking the other night at dinner, and I was like, man, I just want I want other people to hear your stories. I mean, you're you're Ben in Paint, like your whole life. So tell me just a little bit about, you know, what you what you've done and how how you're just your careers evolved and how you got to here. Well, I I've been, like I said, I've been paying for about over twenty years now. I started off paying farm equipments, service body trucks, trailers, road construction work, a little bit even down to probably about three or four mailboxes. So when I came to the geese, it was kind of a change. You know, it was coming from the robots. Never dealt with robots. Took a little bit, but it it's a lot better on a person's body, and I know my shoulders and back is liking it very much. So it it's nice to see an upgrade from painting and mixing paint from hand, paint from hand to be able to just hit a button and paint away. So just tell me, what is what is your typical day at Degees? What does that look like? So if there's someone's listening that either runs or has a paint department or as a painter themselves, just get them in Tony's shoes. Tony comes in the morning. What's what's a day look like for you at Degees. While we start off making sure the robots are all ready to go, make sure the paint's good. Make sure the parts are ready and then we just hit the button and run. You know, it's it's let the robots do the work like they're meant to be. You know, give us time to hang up the parts prep the parts and let the let the robots do its this job. You know, it's like I said, it's nice. So you don't have to put on that that paint suit and a hundred degree weather, you know, the robots take care of it and don't have to go up and down ladders. It's, again, it's it's While wear and tear and paint, I don't think people realize on how much it is. It's not just pulling the trigger. It's it's a lot of wear and tear on the body. So with the robot doing the business, it's it's a lot easier on the body, and you can relax and just let the bot let the robots do what it's supposed to do. A lot of people say when they come in, well, I I I can't replace my I can't replace my planer. It doesn't replace your planer. Doesn't. Like, you don't you weren't replaced. No. I mean, you you still need knowledge on the line. Like, what you know, everything you've done up to now still has immense value in that system. So what what other things are you looking and monitoring in your paint line because you're not inside the booth now? Oh, there's, I mean, there's always room for improvement. Like I said, you don't replace the painter. You just help the painter out. I mean, there's room for improvement. You can look at a part and see, well, I wanna change it and maybe go quicker this way. And so you can go in there and you can save yourself five, ten minutes of watching a robot, improving it, and also gives you time to, like I said, prep on the parts. Watch, you know, get ready for the next robot. You know, it's It doesn't replace it. It just just helps me out. So you still like do viscosity checks on your paint? Yep. Still do viscosity checks on the paint. Make sure the paint's at the level it's supposed to be at. But, you know, like I said, during the heat and cold, you always gotta watch that. Yep. It's robots don't work on its own. It just helps you out. So you have do you what other types of adjustments do you do to build the overcome variables that you see in the day to day? Oh, we can go from adjustments with just making sure the robots lined up. You gotta, you know, gotta adjust to the temperature. You know, you can speed up the robots. You can lower the robots, make sure hot days, we lower we slow down the robots, but make sure you get a good wet cover on it if you're spraying paints. Speed it up if it's too hot out and, you know, around here if you don't have a quality control paint conditions, that's another use for the painter. The painter knows what to do to adjust it. So good. A lot of people come in and say, well, You know, you you can use it because you have your Degees and Lesta, but we have we have too many parts. So, like in a typical day you program, do you add new programs? Well, when I first started about two years ago, there was probably about five programs that was in there before I started. So I've been here for two years and we probably got over a hundred programs. And it's just it's night day difference. It's you're not suiting up, you're not climbing up and down ladders or lifts. It's it's it's nice. It's you don't have to just watch robot do his job. So you're here at BabTech all week. What's happening back home? Well, right now Kevin's Kevin's letting the robot do his job. He's he's prepping it, and he's he's add in the lids that needs to be done and just during the viscosity check. How can we run the line without our without our lead there? How can we do that? Well, like I said, we got everything programmed as as the parts that we have now. And he's capable of to do that. Like I said, you're not replacing the pain or You're just helping the you're helping the robot out. So you're the only one at Degees that can make programs? No. There's other people that can make programs that's that's one of the good things about it. Anybody can learn it. It's quite simple to learn it and once you get it down, it means you can do it with your eyes closed. So Kevin's wood was one of our specialists. So then he's running the line and then he he can add a program if he needs to and he keeps it running. Yep. And then do we So typically on a day when you're when you're back, how many how many people do you have in that room? Well, when I go back there, there's two people running the room. Yeah. And it's What what do they run? What what's all in there? From parts. You got four robots in the paint room. Two blow off robots from the for the wash bay and they also do their job of blowing the parts off after scanning underneath to do. All it is is just keeping the parts rolling, the prep and keeping the robots doing job. Five stage wash. You got a kitchen. You have we're we're not just running one color. Oh, no. No. No. We have six different colors in the paint kitchen. We gotta check viscosity on all of those. And then like you said, we have One wash, five stage wash, two ovens, one for the wash bay, one for the completed painted units, and it goes out to cool off of. And Good. Appoxy primers, urethane topcoats. Anything different on on that? You gotta treat that differently at all? Not necessarily. I mean, you still gotta check the viscosity on everything. Obviously, they take different hardeners for it, but that's all plumbed in for its own original robot So it's simple to just check the viscosity, make sure the pumps are on and away you go. So people that maybe are coming from the pressure pot and the gun. Going to the two k mix systems, how how's that feel? Oh, it's it's great. Like I said, from when I first started, I had to mix everything in and, in the paint pot, mix it up, make sure you got the right viscosity going through it, spray it, once you run out, you gotta mix it more. So now in the paint kitchen, everything's plumbed in, you check the viscosity, you check the hardener, make sure it's all levels full and then let the machine do the rest. And then it circulates and then mixes when you need it. Yep. It circulates through the system. And then when you're ready to for the robots to spray, then it'll mix it up through the machine, go out the robot, and spray. So I do get a lot of that question a lot. So what about what about color change? Can you do automatic color changes? Yes. Automatic color change. So for the system that's set up, you know, we have like a one, two, three, four, five, and each Each number has its own color. And you set up a robot to automatic color change. If you're first part that goes through is number one, it'll paint the color. Mhmm. And then once this next part goes through and it's scan number two, It'll go. It'll flush out and then reload automatically. And then just keeps going. And then it just keeps going. Okay. Cool. Okay. So I get I got a painter here. So this is great. So so I get a lot of, okay, we're I'm gonna paint this part or you're gonna paint that part. And what is, What can you do the self learning robot with less? They're with the controls. I heard you talking about like like presets too. Like you you don't just paint. It's not just paint. But you have different programs. Can you explain about your different presets that you use and then why you would use the different ones when you're looking at a part? Yeah. Like I said, you know, we, like I said, we'd have different presets, you know, like for temperature wise, the temperature wise, Well, you know, we'll back the slow of the arm down to so it gets better cold along with the spray pattern. You can adjust spray pattern. We have three different ways you can adjust the spray pattern from Okay. From wide marrow to medium, you know. Mhmm. And the velocity of the paint going through, we can also adjust that for trigger. It's pretty much like the trigger. We can control the trigger through the buttons and you don't want it all the way open. If you want to back it down, you can for different different weather reasons, you know. So when you're training a new part, then can you explain how you use those presets and what that looks like? So you you've I heard I heard you talking just recently that you set that up on your HMI And then when you go make the program, you're training a new part and you use the presets. What are those presets? And like, why what when do you use them? So for like the nice the tight corners, you know, you don't want a big old wide pattern on it. You'll have a mess. Yeah. So like when you do your pre shooting, your and your corner spots, you have it at a narrow as as possible and you have the paint viscosity low, but you're not shooting at a hundred percent. Okay. And then when you back out of there, you can set your preset at that. And then when you're ready to go wide open, you can set your fan pattern as wide and you can bump up your viscosity on your paints through the pulling the trigger up a little bit more. So when you're training it then, so you got the the wide narrow you also have one where you turn the electro set off? Yes. That's that's that's on our pre shooting. Most of the time our pre shooting is we turn the electrostatic off because how the how electrostatic works, it it'll go to the closest piece of steel. Uh-huh. And then when you're at the corner, that don't work so well. So you turn the electrostatic off, you turn the paint down, and your pattern to, like I always call it a pencil pattern. So it's not wide. That way, you shoot in there, you pre shoot and then you back away. And then when you're ready to cover the rest of it, then you turn your electrostatic on so it can wrap around the steel. You turn your your paint flow up so you get more paint coming out of the gun and then you can turn your your flow pattern and your air pattern to wide open, so it covers more ground. And to do that, do you have to run it out of the of the booth when you're training it back to the HMI, or do you do it just right there at right here. I'll just do it right there at the park. You what do you how do you switch? What do you do? Just Well, on our on our controls, there's a button there. And they'll control it'll control the fan pattern and they'll control the the the viscosity of the paint. It's just just a click of a button, you know. And then when you're then when you're done, that's what happens then. It's saved. All of that will then happen on your on your path. Yep. That it'll save it to the number And then next time that number comes across, the the computer will read it, and it'll just paint exactly how you paint it while you're a pro doing your pre shoot with your pencil, return your electrostatic off, back to your wide. So all the all the gun angles, all the nuances, all those presets, happening. Yep. Just just like how you paint it. It'll save it and then and then you're done with it. You don't have to worry about it. So that's you. So This was interesting. So when you first started using it, I hear the slide, like, you started using it and you get to see your, like, the robot extension of you. It's doing it like you said exactly what you do. How do you see that? Is that a training tool for you? Have you evolved over the last three years on how your program? Or how you move because you're seeing or or evaluating your your worst critic. Right? Yeah. So how do you feel like you're you're your your painting has changed at all? Well, like I said, painting with that. Yes. First couple of times I went in there. I found myself I had to do a lot of touch up programs. Which is also nice on the robot because you can add those touch up programs so you don't have to repaint the whole thing again. And then like I said, later on, if you feel like that program's too long, you can reprogram it and and shorten up the time period. So that's a good point. So so is it not it's not just a one and done? No. So explain to me how you guys look at parts and that such change and evolve too. Like, what is what is the typical way? If you're doing a big part, how would you typically break it up? Well, we would go through the touch up programs first. Like I said, you know, turn the Scott, turn the electrostatic off. Yep. Bring the fan pattern to a narrow and turn the flow down a little bit so you don't have paint spraying everywhere. Uh-huh. A lot of times, a lot of the parts that we've noticed that through the times that we've been there, we can shorten that period up. It's like, well, we can go from this angle now. And then that way, we can back up. We can actually release some of the programs and get rid of them. Okay. So you even have already like a side one, side two, side three, where do you break it up like that and have individual programs? So you can work on them? Well, we we try to do all the touch up programs with one program. Okay. And then it all depends on on on the part, obviously. You know, you have different angles sometimes it's easier just to kind of break it up. Like, k, your your touch up programs, program number one. And like you said, you know, If you gotta go off a ladder, you know, the safest way to do it is just spray it up there and then save that program so you can, person can get down the ladder safe. And then we can go step in the program number three and then we can cover the rest. And then save it all into one program and you're and you're done. And then the next time around, you don't have to climb up that ladder. You're safe to go and you can watch the robot do what you did. But you don't use ladder. I do hear this a lot of people who have big parts. You know, I won't be able to use this because, one that you're showing, you know, it's just right there. You stand there. How how do we do? How do we do big parts in our in our? Well, we have platforms. I'm I'm sorry. I was speaking from the old days using a ladder. So No. We have a platform that raises up with the air. It's alright. I mean, we walk safely across it and that's what we use as the platforms, but still it's nice you don't have to drag that platform back and forth. Right. You know, and it's just another another good reason that the robots are good. I mean, it just saves you so much time effort, you know, you you're not going home. Just dog tired. You're like I said, you get the program Get the robot, do its job, and you don't have to worry about it. Awesome. So Tony, one sentence, what's Lester and Degees done for you and your career? Yes. Well, I saved on my body, my physicalness, a lot of chiropractor, a lot of chiropractor stops. Just It's just amazing how far from when I started to where I'm at now today. So you're in the you're in the paint industry. You're you're the lead of paint. Is this a job is this a career? Oh, I should definitely say it's a career. It's not a job. I mean, there's there's no limits for what these robots can do. I'm always still, like I said, I've been doing it for two years now. I'm always finding improvements on it. What can we do next with it? Yeah. You know, it's it's it's exciting. It's what it is. You are an incredible talent And, great person love having you on our team, and I can't wait to see what you and your team continue to do as we continue to grow our finishing side and as now we're bringing the solutions and the things that you guys are developing the day to day are now here at the show floor and we're using it and helping impact other painters, other companies, and it's just gonna be an exciting ride. Oh, I appreciate it. I appreciate having me here. Yeah. You bet. Thank you. Thank you. So everyone, make sure that you've you find look us up, let's say, Degees Corporation, see how we can help you and our teams Find that the technology solutions help you continue to move forward and hope to talk to you again soon. Thank you.