Trimac’s Mobile System Provides Powder Coating on the Go

Trimac Industrial Systems, a Kansas-based producer of infrared ovens, washers and custom finishing systems, has developed a small, nearly portable powder coating system, the Mini-Mobile. The Mini-Mobile system comprises a powder coating booth as well as a curing oven, and its compact footprint makes it applicable to operations of many sizes. The company claims it is the only system of its kind on the market.

Marty Sawyer, CEO and owner of Trimac, says the idea for the Mini-Mobile system was first conceived after the company acquired Protherm Electric Infrared in 2017 — an acquisition that apparently made Trimac the sole producer of convection, gas catalytic infrared and electric infrared ovens in North America. Protherm had a small, conveyorized show oven that Sawyer thought would be good to showcase at an upcoming FABTECH display. At the conference, the oven turned out to be a hit, and Sawyer says, “I realized there was a product here.” The company would spend the next few years workshopping the system into the Mini-Mobile.

The Mini-Mobile is a modular system that comes in a standard size (20" × 20" flat part or 12" cube; max part size of 12" × 18" × 20") and large size (40" × 40" flat part or 24" cube; max part size of 28" × 36" × 36"), and Trimac also offers custom sizes. The oven has three heaters on each side which can be moved, tilted and adjusted based on the needs of the finishing job. The system, which is emission free, is designed to finish small parts about the size of a cell phone.

A system with such a small footprint opens the powder coating process to many types of users, from job shops and manufacturing cells to laboratories, ­universities and even hobbyists. The Mini-Mobile is a great solution for job shops that need to rework parts or produce a small run of custom orders without having to do a color change in their main operation. Sawyer also highlights the oven as being conducive to learning in an educational setting, saying, “One of the great things about infrared is that you get to see the curing process — you can watch the product gel right in front of your eyes.” Sawyer adds that as she explains the process in-person, she has noticed people become “mesmerized as they see the powder go from matte to glossy, and they begin to better understand the process.”

The company’s design philosophy with the Mini-Mobile oven is all about reduction: smaller footprint, smaller utilities and less time on the line. The company claims that users can plug the system in and be curing parts in under five minutes. In this way, the system brings lean manufacturing concepts to the powder coating industry. Sawyer adds, “The idea is that you can powder coat at the end of the operation without transporting the part to another location, another building, much less another state.” The Mini-Mobile system is available to order now and is set to start shipping at the beginning of next year.

Trimac Industrial Systems | 800-830-5112 | trimacsystems.com