ghostwriting"It was a bad situation," said Jack Crosswell, DeVilbiss Company Territory Manager in Atlanta. "There it was, just before Thanksgiving with the holidays coming up. Tommy called me to ask if we could get two spray booths and all the equipment installed and put Southland back into production."
DeVilbiss helps a customer in need.
Jack flew to Selma that morning and surveyed the damage. He found the two booths and electrostatic equipment, installed years before by a DeVilbiss competitor, were beyond salvage and had to be replaced. Southland was already clearing out the debris. But Jack knew, with the Christmas holidays approaching, delivery was going to be a problem.
Jack, and DeVilbiss Senior Regional Engineer, Bill Kells, swung into action. They returned to Southland with quotes and delivery information. A day later Tommy gave them the go-ahead. "Jack had given us a presentation on DeVilbiss finishing equipment the year before, but we just didn't have an immediate need for it. Until the fire."
The first step was to get hand spray guns and accessories into the plant so Southland could begin limited production again during the installation of the new TurboCleantm; booths. Once that was accomplished, DeVilbiss people began working to secure the necessary components from various branches around the country, and then followed up to make sure deliveries were on time. Meanwhile, DeVilbiss engineers began laying out the job and were on the site installation just prior to Southland's Christmas shutdown.
(PHOTO INSETS (5): Southland paint finishing operation)
(CAPTION: Inside a Turbclean booth, two AGC guns on an EDR short-stroke reciprocator spray a finish into the contours and deep recesses of a mower base.)
(CAPTION: The exterior surfaces of mower bases receive a flawless finish from two ultra-high speed RAB-500 rotary atomizers.)
A brand new finishing system installed in record time.
By January tenth, two TurboClean spray booths were in place on the Southland production line. Each booth was equipped with a DeVilbiss EDR short-stroke reciprocator. In one booth, two AGC electrostatic spray guns were mounted on a single bar. In the other booth, two RAB-500 rotary atomizers coated parts from a double-bar reciprocator.
The TurboClean booth is designed to work continually to break up paint accumulating on the surface of the tank into very small, easier to handle solid particles. As a result, the need for skimming the water is reduced. So is maintenance time, and noxious odors in and around the booth.
Featuring on-off triggering and a precision fluid regulator that permits fine adjustment of fluid rates, the AGC spray gun provides maximum spray pattern control. And the spray pattern can be changed to efficiently coat a variety of product sizes and shapes. These guns are designed to operate simple, reliably and with minimal maintenance. Southland operators were trained on the job. "We use these guns to reach into deep contours and recesses of the underside of the mower base. The coverage is very good," Tommy said.
The two RAB-500 rotary atomizers are used in the other booth for the outside surfaces where a quality finish is absolutely necessary. The DeVilbiss RAB-500 is an ultra-high speed rotary atomizer with the ability to break coatings down into extremely fine particles. This gives the atomizer superior transfer efficiency. Spray pattern size can be easily adjusted by shaping the air coming from the jets surrounding the atomizer.
Frank Lord, Purchasing Agent for Southland said, "We increased our transfer efficiency at least forty per cent over the old equipment. And we've cut our paint usage, too."
(PHOTO INSET: Crosswell and Peak. CAPTION: DeVilbiss territory manager, Jack Crossell and Southland president, Bruce Peak, inspect a just finished mower base.)
(PHOTO INSET: Pearson, Peak and Lord. CAPTION: Southland's Tommy Pearson, Bruce Peak and purchasing agent Frank Lord are happy to be back into production again.)
"We're well pleased."
In less than six weeks, thanks to some good old fashioned dedication and overtime by DeVilbiss field people, Southland was back into full production. "Now we have a better painting system that gives us far superior finish at a lower cost," said Tommy Pearson.
"We're well pleased with DeVilbiss service and with the new DeVilbiss equipment," says Bruce Peak, Southland's president. "They came through when we needed them."
