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What info is needed to select the best option for adding coating capacity? Part 2 of 4

By Dr. Edward D. Cohen  
 
Anticipated product structures:
The current and future product structures must be defined so that the new capacity can produce all of what’s required. The new capacity should have the capability to manufacture all of these structures. A web coater has a long, usable lifetime, and it should be flexible enough to coat future structures and not limit future product concepts.
 
Technical specifications to attain the additional capacity: The purpose of this section is to develop the preliminary specifications for the hardware and technology needed to achieve the capacity needs as identified in the previous section. Recognize that this information helps select the best option, and the specifications should not be limited to current coaters and operating experience. They also should contain an estimate of future needs, include new concepts and should not be a duplication of previous coater designs.

A web coater has a long lifetime and what has been built previously may not be the “current state of the art.” It should consider new concepts as best stated by Mark Twain: “If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you always got.”

The detailed specifications for the new coating-capacity project are developed from the needs identified in the previous section, which should define technical and economic characteristics that need to be achieved, the anticipated coating-capacity project and quantitative data, where appropriate. Multiple goals should be defined to ensure that all needs are analyzed. When the final coater is specified it should meet the identified requirements.
 
References
1. E.D. Cohen, “What are the Sources of Technical Information on the Web Coating Process?” Converting Quarterly 2017 Quarter 1
2. E.D. Cohen, E.B. Gutoff, Water and Solvent Based Coating Technology, in J. R, Wagner, Jr., Multilayer Flexible Packaging, Elsevier, 2nd ed., 2010


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