On Course With Clear Labelling
SCHREINER PROTECH
On Course With Clear Labelling
Kratos Industries from Colorado manufactures large-format control cabinets, among other things, and has grown rapidly over the past five years. But as output increased, so did the requirements for accurate labeling—an issue that was a real challenge for a while. Thanks to a paint protection label solution from Schreiner ProTech, this bottleneck has now been solved.
Growing from two to over 125 employees in recent years, Kratos Industries has achieved this impressive growth in industries where precisely-manufactured control panels are at the heart of many systems. But where output increases, so do the demands on logistics. Many of these control cabinets are painted by external powder coaters. In order for each part to be clearly identified both during the manufacturing process and later in the field, it needs a label that keeps up with the pace of Kratos.
Initially, the company used wire shipping tags to identify parts when they were sent to external powder coaters. A pragmatic solution, but one that was very error-prone. Initial testing of paint mask labels failed because the mask became difficult to remove the longer it stayed on the newly-painted part.
Timing and Teamwork
With the support of Schreiner ProTech, Kratos’ Manufacturing Engineering team solved the mask removal issue. Today, the masks are removed by the powder coating vendors soon after the painting process, while the part is still warm. This small detail makes a big difference. Now the masks peel off cleanly, revealing a pristine label which not only ensures that each component can be clearly identified, but which also reinforces the image and high quality of the Kratos brand.
“For us, this solution and the cooperation with Schreiner ProTech was a very important building block in supporting our organizational growth”, explains Robert Esquibel from Kratos Industries. And Sales Account Manager Doug Stubbs from Schreiner ProTech adds: “In the end, it was really a question of timing—in our collaboration as well as in removing the mask. Kratos is still a young company in the market, so Schreiner’s experience helped us to find the optimal solution together.”
For Kratos, this is a real win. The new solution not only increases inventory visibility and parts allocation, but also ensures rapid parts identification and replacement in the field. Especially for a company that is growing so dynamically, this is a decisive factor in completing projects reliably and on schedule.
