Kitchen Manufacturer - Cutting Product Waste

Background

Our client is a bespoke kitchen manufacturer working predominantly with MDF, tulipwood and veneered MDF. Finish quality is central to what they sell and their spraying operation runs continuously across the working week. Any friction in that process, such as unnecessary stoppages, cleaning time, material waste, feeds directly into the cost of every unit they produce.

The Challenge

The client’s existing system was a two-part solvent-based polyurethane, applied across two primer coats and one colour coat. The finish itself was performing well. There were no rejects, no rework and no consistency issues. The problems lay elsewhere.

The short pot life of the polyurethane meant the team had to mix product frequently, in small batches, to avoid waste. Each mix required pouring the two components into cups, combining them with a stirrer and using the resulting product quickly before it expired. Any remainder had to be discarded. Individually, each instance of waste was small. Collectively, it was substantial.

The same constraint limited how the product could be applied. Pumping larger quantities was not viable because the material would expire before it could be used, so the team relied on pot guns for colour application instead. This is a less efficient method that generated more cleaning work between coats.

The client approached Redwood with a clear priority: stop the waste and get the mixing and cleaning cycles under control.

The Solution

To begin with, the Redwood team undertook a review of the whole finishing process, from start to finish, assessing drying times, coat counts, mixing requirements, cleaning demands and overall workflow efficiency.

The review identified that the total process time from first coat to completion was not the core issue. What was costing the client most was the frequency of mixing and cleaning cycles driven by the polyurethane’s short pot life.

Redwood recommended transitioning to the Hesse FANTASTIC system, which offered a considerably longer pot life: six to eight hours on primers and colours and up to three days on clears, against one to two hours on the outgoing system. This addressed the root cause directly. The team could mix less often, hold product between coats and spend more of their working time actually spraying.

Alongside the product change, Redwood recommended moving to pump application for colour coats on larger projects. Using a pump rather than pot guns reduces the amount of equipment requiring cleaning between runs and cuts down on PPS system consumables.

Support during implementation was hands-on. Redwood visited the site to carry out an initial trial with the team and was present again when the client ran their first full project on the new system, on hand to answer questions and make sure the transition went smoothly.

The Outcome

After three months on the Hesse system, the results were clear. The headline figures:

90%+ reduction in product waste

8%+ reduction in overall product consumption

The 8% is a consequence of the first figure rather than a separate saving. Product that used to be mixed and discarded is now sprayed, so less material has to be bought to finish the same volume of kitchens. Disposal is a separate line again, and one that is easily overlooked. Mixed two-pack waste is hazardous waste, collected by a licensed carrier and charged for by volume, so the drums that no longer get filled do not get invoiced either. Across a full year of production, the three together add up to a meaningful and recurring reduction in cost.

The efficiency gains were equally tangible, if harder to quantify precisely. With fewer mixing cycles and less time spent washing out spray guns and pumps, the team reclaimed several hours of productive spraying time across each working week. The process became noticeably smoother, with fewer interruptions and a steadier production rhythm.

The change also removed a good deal of hands-on mixing from the working day. Fewer batches means less decanting, less time spent at the mixing station and fewer part-used cups sitting around the shop. The result was a simpler operation to run, that was cheaper as well.

Interested in reviewing your finishing process?