WDMA Briefs Members on New Industry Technology

Members of the WDMA received a technology update yesterday during the association's technical conference. Ben Dipzinski, sales manager, and Peter Stiles, owner of Stiles Machinery, opened the session by telling customers, "Make customers profitable and they'll always be around and come back to you."

Following are some of the issues they talked about:

1. New surface technology. This includes advancement in lightweight panels.
2. Inkjet and edge printing. This technology is being used in doors in Europe, though it's expensive to operate like ink cartridges for printers. The presenters pointed out that the products still have to be coated.
3. Transfer printing process. Flush door manufacturers in Europe currently are doing this, and the United States will be soon.
4. Powder coating. This is a solution that's been around for a while, and an ideal process for manufacturers of irregular shapes. There is not widespread use yet but it has some definite benefits.
5. One-piece flow. This is the ability to do one piece after another, changing shapes and sizes.
6. New technology advancements. This includes vision scanning for surface quality and to check the tolerances of profiles, check for surface defects and squareness of frames.

The presenters also talked about the importance of automation and gave as an example robots that are actually sanding profiles.

"If you think you don't need to be automated, know that our competition in Asia is automating," said Stiles, who also pointed out that technology advancements in electronics are not just commercial anymore. "Photo cells are being used in the biometric locking systems … We're seeing remote- and card-controlled locking systems."

The WDMA conference continues today.

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