Author: Phil Stevenson
As an industry consultant and training professional, I visit over thirty wood manufacturers each year. They range from one man shops to multi-million dollar operations. In both large and small finishing facilities, I am always amazed at how few shops have an effective employee training program. Less than 10% of all wood manufacturers regularly train their finishing department employees. Finishing is a highly skilled art and a complex science. Most manufacturers will agree that finishing is the most difficult phase of their manufacturing process. It is also recognized that the finish is the most important process in wood manufacturing for generating bottom line profits and for providing customer satisfaction.
Most companies, especially small to medium sized shops, do not have a formal training program in place. Why is finishing training so neglected?
There are several basic topics or categories of finisher training that are necessary to provide a comprehensive training program. These would include:
- Whitewood Sanding and Surface Preparation
- Staining /Glazing and Color development
- Spray Operator Training
- Sealer and Primer Sanding
- Quality Control
- Whitewood Inspection
- Incoming Coating Audits
- In Process Quality Control
- Post Process Inspection and Quality Checks
- Equipment Maintenance
- Environmental Compliance and Record Keeping
To develop an accurate comprehensive training program, a standard operating procedure (SOP) may be used for the outline. If you do not have SOPs, it will first be necessary to develop detailed, written procedures. There are several SOP software program templates that are available for purchase, or you may call AWFI for a source of SOP templates to setup for finishing operations. The template software should be simple to follow, easy to use, and allow digital photos to be inserted into the SOP document. An SOP is not an essay. It is concise step-by-step instructions of the procedure. Care must be taken when writing the procedure to include all critical information about the process. SOPs should also follow best practice standards. Writing standard operating procedures provides focus onto the procedure and may allow opportunity to upgrade the process to best practice standards.
Let’s take a look a look at what each training topic should include using the SOP as an outline.
Whitewood Sanding and Surface Preparation
The training plan for the whitewood sanding procedure may include the following:
- Lists of approved sanding equipment
- Setup of sanding equipment
- Air supply requirements / CFM
- Approved abrasive materials
- List of products that will receive surface preparation procedure
- Techniques used in the sanding procedure
- Sequence of steps used in the process
- Handling and stacking of the materials
- Pre-process and Post-process equipment checks and maintenance
- Abrasive material replacement intervals
Any detailed instructions, hard samples, and photos of substrate and sanding technique are always useful for this training program.
Stain/Glazing Color Development
Staining and glazing procedures are very technique-driven. A well balanced training program for these procedures not only includes instructions from the SOPs, but also includes extensive hands-on training, visual aids such as step panels, and go and no-go panels. Some of the elements to include in the color development training program are:
- List of approved stain and glaze material
- Approved application equipment like rags, brushes, and spray guns
- Setup parameters of the equipment
- Approved application techniques for the process
- Dry times
- Process sequences
- Handling and racking of materials
- Mixing the coating
- Equipment checks and clean up
- Waste and rag removal and disposal
- How to compare color to the color standard
This comprises the basic training outline for color development but may not be all inclusive of your finishing process requirements.
Spray Operator Training
Spray operator training is a very large topic; however, it must be thoroughly covered to be comprehensive and effective. Spray Operator error accounts for an average of over 15% of internal reworks in productions facilities throughout the wood finishing industry. Effective spray operator training may reduce internal finishing defects by over 75% of the total internal rework rate. Training may also substantially reduce coating material consumption by up to 20%.
Some of the main elements to include in a spray operating training program are:
- Improved coating material for the process
- Checking and preparing the coating
- Approved spraying equipment
- Setting up the equipment
- Spray Operator technique
- Parts Spraying sequence
- Finishing schedule – number of coats, mil thickness requirements, etc.
- Dry times
- Flushing and cleaning procedures
- Waste disposal
- Safety considerations
Different finishing schedules may require varying technique and spraying sequence. Therefore, an SOP and training program will be necessary for each specific finishing process.
Sealer and Primer Sanding
Some training programs include sealer/primer sanding in the whitewood surface preparation training program. All of the same basic elements included in whitewood sanding should be included in the program; however, the abrasive material, sanding equipment, and sanding techniques will be specific to the sealer/primer sanding process.
Quality Control
Quality control training programs and procedures are generally classified into four separate categories. Each requires a specific SOP and training program.
Whitewood Inspection – Whitewood inspection insures that the wood substrate meets or exceeds quality standards for the product prior to any finish coating being applied to the product. Some of the items to include in whitewood inspections are:
- Splits, cracks, and wind check
- Inconsistent machining of the parts
- Insufficient surface sanding preparation
- Color consistency of the substrate
- Natural wood defects/pitch pockets
- Rough end-grain
- Misalignment of the parts
Incoming Coating Quality Audits – It should not be assumed that the incoming coating material meets the expected specifications without verification. Incoming coating audits should at a minimum verify the following:
- Sheen level
- Color
- Viscosity
- Opacity
- Clarity
In-Process Quality Control – During the finishing process there are several procedures that employees should be thoroughly trained to perform. These procedures should include.
- Wet mill thickness testing
- Identifying defects in the finish and taking corrective actions
- Checking flow rates
Post-Process Inspection – Training to perform post process inspections should include:
- Dry mil thickness testing
- Adhesion testing
- Checking gloss levels
- Visual inspections using control panels to check for color, clarity, and other finishing defects
Equipment Maintenance
Equipment performance affects finish quality and production performance. It is generally considered to be one of the most important training programs for the finishing department. The maintenance training program must be very detailed using hands-on demonstrations to illustrate to the trainee how to maintain equipment to perform at peak operating performance. The equipment training maintenance program should include:
- Equipment maintenance and leak inspections
- Spray equipment material delivery system maintenance
- Spray booth maintenance
- Sanding equipment maintenance and repairs
- Curing system equipment maintenance
- Material handling systems maintenance and repair
There are many items that must be covered in the equipment maintenance and repair program that are too numerous to be mentioned in this article. A very good source of information to include in a training program may be obtained from the manufacturer of the equipment.
Environmental Compliance and Record Keeping
Each manufacturer will require a different level of training for this topic. Local and Federal codes along with the level of VOC emissions will dictate the regulatory burden to meet environmental compliance. The following are common requirements:
- Daily material consumption record keeping
- Waste material record keeping
- Waste disposal record keeping
- MSDS sheets
For process documentation, we recommend training to include how to record:
- Daily climatic conditions
- Material data information – batch numbers, coating temperature, viscosity
- Mixing ratios
- Wet mil thickness
Testing and knowledge verification
Testing the finisher trainee is highly recommended to provide a benchmark for improvement, verification of knowledge, and performance accountability. Written tests will verify the intellectual knowledge comprehension level. Hands on testing provides a valuable assessment of the effectiveness of the training program. Also, observing or video taping the spray operator is useful for assessing the proficiency of the skills of the trainee. However, make sure all permissions have been granted prior to video taping the employee. Use of a laser gun device on the spray gun will also help evaluate the trainee’s skills and progress.
For more resources or questions regarding training, please call AWFI. We will assist your company to train your employees to the highest level of finishing excellence.