Many plants are bought with a target output then reality hits: output is 30–40% lower.
Reason: capacity wasn’t sized around bottlenecks.
Powder Coating Plants; The 5 common bottlenecks
- Loading/hanging time
- Booth application time (gun count + coverage)
- Oven dwell time (cure window)
- Unloading + handling
- Rework (silent capacity killer)
Step 1: Start with powder coating parts output requirement
Example: 300 parts/day, 1 shift, 8 hours
Target hourly output = ~38 parts/hour (keep buffer)
Step 2: Determine hang density in powder coating conveyor
How many parts per meter on conveyor?
Depends on part size + spacing + swing clearance.
Assume: 4 parts per meter (example)
Step 3: Conveyor speed vs output in powder coating
Output/hour = (parts per meter) × (conveyor speed m/min) × 60
If you need 38 parts/hour and have 4 parts/m, speed can be:
38 = 4 × speed × 60 → speed ≈ 0.16 m/min
(Then check if this speed is practical for booth and oven dwell.)
Step 4: Powder Coating Oven length decides dwell time
Dwell time (min) = oven length (m) / conveyor speed (m/min)
If cure needs 15 minutes at PMT window and speed is 0.5 m/min:
oven length needed ≈ 7.5 m (plus heat-up zones and real-world losses)
Step 5: Gun count & application time check for powder coating
If parts are complex, application time rises.
A line that’s oven-sized may still be booth-limited.
Rule of thumb: size guns and reciprocators based on:
- surface area
- geometry complexity
- target film build
- first-pass yield requirement