AK¥:WK\, INC. - Areway Acquisition

Ohio company's system powder
coats car and truck wheels.
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From Fond F150 pickup trucks and the n e w Chevy Camaro
Z28 to Chrysler, GM amd Ferrari vehicles, Areway Acquisition
finishes forged and cast aluniinuin wheels for many of the
cars and trucks that you see on tl e road today.
The single-source supplier offe rs complete in-house
machining, automated polishing ind buffing, powder and
liquid painting, and an ISO-certified quality control system
capable of ASTM, SAE and OEM ;pecification testing.
The company was founded in 1967 by Sidor Hadgis as a
family-operated polishing and buffing shop in the Cleveland
suburb of Brooklyn, Ohio, tladgis' son, John, is the current
owner of the business and oversees its daily operations.
In its early days, Areway polish ;d, buffed and plated metal
parts for a variety of industries that included automotive,
truck and motorcycle as well as n anufacturers of everyday
home items such as pots, pans, appliance trim, and light
and bathroom fixtures. Throughout the years, the company
added both capability and capacily while maintaining high
quality standards and environmentally friendly processes
and products.
Areway says it was its commitix ent to quality that eventually led it to polishing and buffinp forged aluminum wheels
ROLLING
ALONG
for Alcoa, which turned out to be a growing market for
Areway, as more vehicles around the world are being fitted
with forged aluminum wheels.
Forged Wheels
Depending on a particular wheel's finishing requirements,
the process steps can differ slightly. According to Areway,
its high-capacity, proprietary buffing and polishing center
can handle wheels as large as 30 inches in diameter, and a
typical aluminum wheel finishing process starts with automated buffing and polishing. The wheel is sent through a
custom-designed 13-zone pretreatment line that uses environmentally friendly cleaning solutions supplied by
Henkel Corp.
The company says this pretreatment is an important step
in the process, as it promotes coating adhesion and protects
against corrosion. After pretreatment, the wheel then
enters an oven for dry-off before powder coating.
Some wheels immediately receive a powder topcoat
and then cure, while other wheels with different finishes
require more process steps. Many are first coated with
either an acrylic or a polyester powder primer supplied by
Akzo Nobel. The color coat, if required, is often a waterborne liquid paint.
Two-Tone Colors
More complex finishes sometimes require machining in
Areway's new automated machining center. This process
further enhances what becomes a two-tone color and silver
'
,
The manual gun is
capable of coating
f r o m either side of t h e
booth, depending on
the finish requirements
of the wheel.
E
^
After dry-off, a wheel could go
straight to powder top coat and
then cure.
P R O D U C T S =INISHING
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17
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finish, which the company says is currently very popular.
Or, the wheel can receive either a high-gloss, clear acrylic
powder topcoat or a matte polyester powder coating.
Areway says its powder and liquid paint finishing
processes are extremely flexible to meet a customer's specific
desired finish.
Most powder coating at the facility is done in a single
Nordson Horizon 400 downdraft booth with one oscillator
equipped with six oscillating Versa Spray II IPS (integral
power supply) guns and a single Versa Spray manual gun.
The manual gun is capable of coating from either side of
the booth, depending on the finish requirements of the
wheel. According to Areway, the Horizon 400 is, by far, the
workhorse of the coating operation and is dedicated to the
application of the acrylic clear powder for both primer and
topcoat layers.
The IPS guns are controlled by an iControl integrated
From Ford F150 pickup trucks and new Z28 Camaro,
to Chrysler, GM and Ferrari, Areway finishes forged
and cast aluminum wheels for many of the cars and
trucks that you see on the road today.
J U L Y 2 0 1 4 - pfonline.com
control system with closed-loop digital flow control. This
measures fluctuations in incomii.g airflow and compensates with a proportional valve tc ensure uniform flow to
the pump, resulting in optimum l epeatability and uniformity of powder on the part.
250 Presets
The iControl system is also capable of handling as many as
250 presets, which are pre-programmed recipes that control
all application requirements for f b w rate, atomizing, kV,
AFC (current control) and trigger ng. Presets also can be
customized for each wheel and pc wder. A typical wheel
primer coat ranges from 1.5 to 2X' mils, while a typical
topcoat ranges from 2.0 to 3.5 mils. The presets can be
named using a pop-up keyboard cn the 12-inch, icon-based
color touchscreen, making it easy for operators to select and
switch between presets.
Adding Powder
^
Until 1995, Areway had little experience with powder
coating. Choosing Nordson as its powder system and
equipment supplier was an easy decision for the company.
^^ys Jeffrey Rabant,
project manager for
consist of 25 to 2,000
Areway's finishing
wheels to be delivered
operations.
"Nordson was
the same week.
chosen because of its
reputation as both a local supplier and worldwide leader
of reliable and technologically advanced powder coating
systems," he says. "Vi e've been extremely happy with
Nordson's powder coating system and the reliable and
repeatable performance that it delivers on a daily basis."
Areway says its demanding production schedule is testimony to Nordson's reputation as a worldwide leader in the
powder coating industry. The company's highest annual
production rate for coated wheels alone was 1.7 million.
Currently, it runs twc shifts for the machining, buffing
and polishing operat ons, and one shift for the coating and
finishing operations.
A typical order size can
Bigger Wheels ^
Before the trend toward larger wheel diameters, Areway
was utilizing 825 overhead conveyor hooks capable of
producing 700 wheeis per hour. Now with bigger wheels
and a multitude of w leel designs, the company has had to
increase the spacing tetween hooks and is utilizing 617
hooks capable of 48C wheels per hour if double hung, and
240 wheels per hour For even larger diameter single-hung
wheels.
A typical customer order size can consist of 25 to 2,000
wheels to be delivered the same week. In addition to the
Nordson Horizon 400 system, Areway has since added a
Nordson COE (chain on-edge) booth to spray tinted acrylic
powder coatings, g r e / primers and polyester powder matte
finishes onto the whe els. According to the company, the
purchase of this seco id system illustrates Areway's wheel
finishing flexibility a id its commitment to continuously
expanding its capabii ities to better service its customers.
So, next time you're out driving and you see a sleek new
Camaro Z28 in all of its muscle-car glory, or any other
vehicle with aluminum wheels rolling down the road—
anywhere around th« world—it is quite possible that it was
finished at Areway Acquisition in Brooklyn, Ohio, ti
r
For information on the following suppliers, please visit
their websites: Nordion at nordson.com; Henkel at
henkelna.com; and / kzo Nobel at interpon.us.
I
!
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