A topcoat line was losing 4.2% of bodies to visible paint defects, with root cause disputed between paint supply, booth air and circulation filtration.
- Defect rate after rollout
- 1.2%
- Reduction in rework
- 71%
- Trial to plant-wide decision
- 6 weeks
- Annualised rework saving
- €2.4M
The challenge
The plant's rework bay was running at capacity on a 4.2% defect rate. Three parties each held a different theory. Nobody had characterised what the defects actually were, which meant every proposed fix was a guess with a budget attached.
How we approached it
- 01Defect particles were physically recovered from rejected panels and analysed by SEM-EDX to identify composition and size.
- 02Analysis showed 68% of defects were polyester fibre — matching the sewn seams of the incumbent circulation filter bags.
- 03Booth air and paint circulation were each sampled independently to rule out the other contributors.
- 04Welded-seam absolute-rated bags were trialled on one line for six weeks before plant-wide rollout.
What we delivered
Replacement of sewn-seam felt bags with STRATA welded-seam, calendered, absolute-rated 25 µm bags across all paint circulation loops, together with an upgrade of booth supply air to F9 with sealed header frames.
Nobody had put a defect under a microscope in two years of arguing about it. That single analysis ended the debate in an afternoon.
Project facts
- Client
- European automotive OEM
- Industry
- Automotive & Mobility
- Location
- Bratislava, Slovakia
- Year
- 2025
Measured results
- 1.2%
- Defect rate after rollout
- 71%
- Reduction in rework
- 6 weeks
- Trial to plant-wide decision
- €2.4M
- Annualised rework saving
What went in
Other programmes
Next step
Tell us what is in the stream.
Flow rate, contaminant, target rating, chemistry and available pressure. Six inputs, and our engineers return a staged design with the sizing basis attached — typically inside 48 hours.
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