Favor is the largest thin sheet metal processor in Estonia. The company has been active in the market for 30 years, constantly modernising and expanding its production activities. One of the milestone developments was the completion of the production building in Loovälja in 2017, where a fully automatic powder coating line was installed at the end of 2020. Elister OÜ, a company providing modern finishing solutions for industrial companies, contributed to this. The new and modern line will enable the company to take its painting operations to a new level and significantly increase Favor's production capacity.

Previously, Favor powder-coating operations were carried out in a separate production unit and the products to be powder-coated had to be transported between several factories, which meant a time-consuming process and a risk of product failure. In addition, the technology was already outdated and no longer met the company's needs, as it wanted to take a more sophisticated approach to the production process in order to offer even faster and more accurate delivery.

"The new fully automatic powder coating line installed in the Favor production facility can accommodate products up to 1600 x 500 x 3000 mm in size and weighing up to 200 kg," said the project manager of Elister OÜ, explaining the technical background of the solution. Indrek Ester. "The expanded production line will allow Favor to expand the range of products that can be coloured and to do jobs that were not possible on the previous line. As the work is automated and the parts are moved on a 230-metre mono conveyor, the company can promise customers at least three times shorter lead times than before," Ester added.

Another important advantage of the new powder coating line is that the preparation for the coating operation, i.e. the degreasing, is carried out as part of the same process as the coating.

"The degreasing of the details is carried out in a five-stage gas-fired washing tunnel, which ensures thorough preparation of the paintwork, which in turn ensures excellent colour fastness. If the result is evaluated according to the levels of liquid painting, Favor achieves a result of C4 with the paint line," highlighted the project manager of Elister OÜ.

When it comes to painting, Favor has gone the same way as most Estonian automatic powder painters, choosing high-quality and reliable products from the Swiss manufacturer Gema. "The Gema equipment we use has the most modern pump powder centre with 12 paint guns. Painting is carried out in a cylindrical plastic booth and safety is guaranteed by CO₂-system," explained the project manager of Elister OÜ.

Another advantage of the solution installed at Favor is that the entire operation of the powder coating line is managed from a single control system, which allows the process to be run automatically and with the help of fewer operators.

"While in general, dosing, pH and conductivity control of components is done manually in production, in a modern system it is done automatically, ensuring quality, speed and a well thought-out use of material," says Ester, highlighting the advantages of modern equipment.

"Favor needed a powder coating line for its new production facility that is state-of-the-art and ensures the best quality and fast delivery for its customers' painting jobs. At the same time, it is important to have an optimised production process that minimises the time spent on side activities such as colour changes and logistics between the different production steps," explained Favor's Development Manager. Marko Mänd. "Today, we have the desired equipment in operation and we are satisfied with the result, as it is a very modern and large-scale solution in Estonian terms, which allows us to offer an international level of service," described Mänd.

"The whole process from the beginning of the procurement to the delivery of the line was also very smooth and professional," says Favor's development manager, highlighting the good cooperation with Aabo-Ideal, Gema and Elister OÜ.