Intelligent Paintshop

Smart Paintshop Technology:

In addition to the seven (7) core technologies above, Taikisha USA Inc. also offers these additional products and solutions for new paintshops and for some modification projects:

• Smart Design: Taikisha USA offers our smart engineering & design solutions to reduce the time it takes to engineer a complete new paintshop. We have created 3D models of all TKS standard products and modules to utilize and drag and drop method to creating custom layouts and paintshops. These processes can reduce total time to delivery from 18-24 months down to 12-14 months in some cases. Taikisha USA and our group companies offer the fastest PO to SOP time in the industry.
• Smart Energy Management: Our Industry 4.0 technologies allow the plant's IoT system to monitor production capacity, and adjust, adapt, and reduce energy consumption where possible. Rather than an always-on approach, use energy on-demand, when needed. Do you have a gap in production? We can turn down utilities to reduce energy usage. Are you shutdown for the weekend? We can systematically turn off some processes and turn down others. See estimated cost savings in real-time.
• Defect Detection: Together with Encore Automation, Taikisha USA offers a fully-automated defect detection system that can work with paint lines of any speed or rate. Using a proprietary camera system mounted on robots, it uses sine wave patterns to detect anomalies in the surface. One uniqueness about our tech compared to other offerings is that it can detect how deep the defect is to generate a 3D model of the defect, which allows use to characterize the defect as hair, inclusion, crater, dip, sag, etc - which allows us to make an educated decision about how to robotically repair the defect.
• Automated Sanding & Finesse: Using the above defect detection technology, we can use a proprietary robotic sanding system with sandpaper replacement heads to sand out major defects, or use a pad and polish system to spray on polish and buff out minor defects in our automated finesse system.

• RFID & Geo-location: Each carrier in the paint shop is fitted with an RFID sensor that allows us to track each single body in the paint shop, and gather data for each vehicle body as it passes through each process, so we can analyze any defects and determine causality. Detailed geo-location data allows us to easily sequence color or body style or types as needed.
• Production Flexibility: New paint shop designs allow for multiple parallel lanes through various process steps. Only running 30 JH instead of 60 JPH today? Then we can shut down one Topcoat booth down and one TC oven. Passed inspection with no defects? Then bypass repair and finesse deck. Two-tone? Then go to this special area. No body needs to take the same path. A custom manufacturing and painting process is possible.
• AGVs: Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) are the key to flexible production steps. Using independent shuttles to guide the wheel carriers is the new concept of body handling within the paintshop. A defined, linear conveyor track is not longer needed. It allows us to create systems with flexible layouts that are easily modified, thus allowing a production concept with highly flexible cells customized according to each product.
• Other Misc Tech: Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Modeling, Discrete Event Simulation (DES), Parametric Modeling, Laser Scanning, and 4D Design and Models to simulate installation of equipment.

Smart 3D Design Practices Using Point Cloud:

For paint shop modification projects, verification of the current as-built condition is critical. Customer drawings are often out of date after multiple contractors have completed adds/changes, and drawings were never updated before or after the work. Taikisha USA offers our smart 3D design solutions to reduce the time it takes to engineer paint shop modifications. This process follows these three steps (as shown in the photo progressions):

• 3D Scanning: First, a 3D scan of the customer's existing facility is completed using our new 3D scanning device.
• 3D Point Cloud: Using the 3D scan data, a 3D point cloud rendering is generated to visualize the current plant layout in 3D.
• Overlay in 3D: the 3D CAD design for the retrofit work can be overlayed on top of the 3D point cloud, highlighting any interferences prior to design approval and fabrication. Thus, avoiding expensive and time-consuming field change orders.

Bottom Line: instead of relying on archived drawings that might be out of date or trying to sort out 2D field pictures, Taikisha USA instead utilizes 3D point cloud scan technology. TKS is able to obtain an accurate, navigable 3D model of a customers facility in order to ensure retrofits can be completely quickly, efficiently, and with no surprises. By overlaying the new retrofit design on top of the 3D point cloud scan, all clashes and surprises can be detected and avoided. This smart design technology offered by Taikisha USA saves both time and money on retrofit projects.