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“Now, getting stuff into my finish room is the choke point.” Read says the system is an opportunity for small to medium-size operations to compete with larger manufacturers. “Previously, finishing was a choke point,” Hamilton said. “And it’s still only one side at a time.” “It’s not uncommon to spray five colors in one job,” he said. “It would take up a big chunk of room and a big chunk of money.” He felt he would need additional equipment such as a dryer to make the linework for his application, and he was concerned about the time required for finish changeovers. “We did research into a flat line system,” he said. It doesn’t feel like a gen-one product.”īoth Read and Hamilton made comparisons of the gains from the Guffey System to automation elsewhere in their shops. You can tell when someone is thinking something through. Of the Guffey System developers, he said, “These are people who took extraordinary time in developing this.
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He said it took two people four and a half hours to install the system in his shop. He noted the clear CAD layout drawings, special tabs to help line things up, and even the packing of the system parts. “First time we used the Guffey System, what would have taken an hour took 15 minutes.” Read also had high praise for the ease of installing the system. “Handling these things flat you are tearing up dollar bills,” Read said.
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He had seen overhead finishing systems in Europe, but he said he could never figure out how to make it work in his 20 x 20-foot spray booth until he got the Guffey System.
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They also make European-style windows and doors. His company is six employees working in 6,000 square feet to make historic windows and doors, small quantities of historic mouldings, and shutters. Hastings Read of Oakleigh Customs in Mobile, Alabama, had similar praise for the system, even though he is not finishing cabinet parts. Everything is in a comfort zone right in front of you.” He added that there is less rework because the system keeps parts from bumping into each other and minimizes handling. “There’s a whole lot less wasted movement. “Now both sides are down and out in a 6-hour day,” Hamilton said. But then they would have to turn everything over to do the reverse side the next day. He described the process they previously used as mostly flat finishing in which two operators would use parts racks, spraying 60 to 120 parts a day. Hamilton says, before the Guffey System, his shop was mainly spraying flat. Originally, they were doing a lot of commercial work, but they switched to emphasize residential work with the pandemic. His shop has 15 employees in 10,000 square feet. But can a material handling system that isn’t changing the kind of spray finish application really be that much faster, and what is involved in changing over to the system? We talked to shops that have adopted the system to get some answers.Ĭhad Hamilton at Pig House Cabinets in Ringgold, Georgia, is an enthusiastic early adopter of the system. Guffey says there are dramatic efficiency gains to be had from the system, making finishing operations up to 2.5 times faster. Mobile rails can hold a selection of parts and roll to different locations, such as transport between sanding and spraying areas. There are stationary rails that can be built in whatever configuration you need for your spray booth and sanding areas, including turning corners. Those same hangers work with pivoting cars that slide in rails for movement. Developed over three years of testing, the hangers are designed to be used as handles to hold, move, or steady parts during the finishing process. What makes the Guffey System different is the specialized accessories and even mobile equipment for efficient handling.įirst, hangers are designed to attach to parts only in places that will not be seen when the part is installed. Of course, many shops have tried vertical spraying because it allows spraying all sides at once. While many cabinet shops spray doors and panels flat, the Guffey system takes those parts and hangs them vertically.