Paint Application Systems

We have extensive experience working with paint systems. From small-scale custom booths to large automated paint lines, our solutions are tailored to your production needs. We work with leading equipment manufacturers to deliver systems that meet the latest safety, VOC, and environmental standards, ensuring reliable performance and long-term durability. Whether upgrading an existing paint system or building a new facility, our experienced team provides turnkey paint system solutions that improve productivity, reduce waste, and enhance finish quality across every project.

Our team have decades of experience engineering high specification spray booth control systems such as those for the automotive and aero industry.

Automotive Car Spray Booth Control

An automotive car spraying booth production line is a highly automated system designed for efficient, high-quality painting of vehicle bodies. It integrates various control elements managed through centralized software platforms using PLCs, SCADA, Input/Output systems, sensors, and human-machine interfaces (HMI) to ensure precision, consistency, and compliance. These elements coordinate the flow of car bodies through cleaning, priming, painting, and curing stages.

CATS provide key elements of the spray booth control system using leading-edge automation for repeatability, real-time monitoring, and integration with factory-wide systems. We have successfully implemented body ident and tracking systems, paint mix room controls, facilitated spray robot integration, developed and installed conveyor and booth Air Replacement Plant (ARP) control. Safety and environmental concerns are paramount and our engineering designs comply with all regulations.

Body Identification and Tracking

Body identification and tracking are critical for customising paint applications, ensuring traceability, and optimising production flow. Systems use RFID tags attached to car bodies or skids, barcodes, or mobile data carriers that travel with the body. These enable automatic detection of unique body identification, body style and design options, colour specifications, production area, and equipment details at each process station. For instance, RFID tags on car bodies during painting allow real-time tracking through the line, integrating with central control systems to monitor throughput times and cycle rates. Sensors and vision systems detect body positions and trigger actions like routing decisions or quality checks and provide full transparency from body shop to final assembly.

Paint Mix Systems

Paint mix systems ensure accurate formulation and delivery of paints, primers, and clear coats, minimizing waste and defects. Control is achieved through automated proportioning systems like meter-based mixers and positive displacement pump systems. Intelligent Paint Kitchen systems use sensors, actuators, and modules to monitor and control paint supply, circulation, tank levels, and pump operations remotely. These integrate with HMIs for spray recipe selection based on body data, with valves enabling rapid color changes. Paint mixing occurs in temperature and humidity controlled rooms to avoid contaminants, following precise manufacturer ratios.

Spraying Robots

Spraying robots provide precise, consistent application of paint layers, reducing overspray and improving finish quality. Commonly used spray robots are from Dürr, Fanuc and ABB. The robots integrate with spray guns and proportioners for automated operation. Control systems program paths based on body geometry, using vision sensors for alignment and positional adjustments. Robots apply base coats, clear coats, and undercarriage protection after priming, with parameters like paint flow rate, atomisation, and speed controlled via software for application uniformity and consistent quality. They operate in sync with conveyors inside environmentally controlled spray booths.

Conveyors

Conveyors form the backbone of the production line, transporting car bodies through stages like cleaning, painting, and drying. Fully automated systems use overhead or floor-based conveyors (e.g., power-and-free or chain-driven) with decentralised PLCs for speed, routing, and stopping control. Integration with tracking systems allows dynamic destination assignment, route control, or interventions via HMIs. Our developed software visualizes conveyor layouts and manages distributed controls, with fault reporting ensuring smooth flow and minimizing downtime. Conveyor speeds are synchronized with robots and booth for seamless operations.

Booth Air Replacement Plant & Temperature Control

The booth air replacement plant maintains a contaminant-free environment through ventilation systems that filter and circulate air. Our ARP control panels manage downdraft airflow (air drawn downward through floor grates), using fans, ducts, and HEPA filters to capture overspray and exhaust vapors. Air is replaced continuously, with fans running pre-spray to stabilize conditions. Temperature control integrates climate systems and high-performance ovens for curing, monitoring via sensors to maintain optimal ranges (e.g., 20-25°C for application, higher for drying) and energy efficiency. Automated controls adjust humidity and heat based on paint specs, with data logged for optimisation.

Safety and Environmental Considerations

Our safety controls prioritise hazard prevention in flammable environments, including explosion-proof lighting/fixtures, grounded equipment, non-sparking tools, and automatic shutdowns for airflow failures or hazardous vapour buildup. PPE requirements (respirators, gloves) and interactive HMIs guide operators with safety prompts, error checks, and digital logging. Alarms and interlocks prevent entry during spray operation. Environmentally, systems capture VOCs and particulates via filters to reduce emissions and comply with regulations like OSHA/NFPA and air pollution permits. Energy data management monitors consumption in ovens and ventilation, forecasting to minimize waste and support ISO 50001 standards. Waste-reducing features in mix systems further lower the environmental impact.