In the last few years, there have been some significant changes in the way companies do business. Gone are the days when business strategies were laid down to produce the same product for ten years. Today, companies do not plan as far ahead. The automobile industry is a good example of this rapid product turnover. For instance, a model has a life expectancy of about five years before it is extensively "face lifted", requiring virtually all new plastic trims and bezels.
The keys to implementing such flexibility are an intelligent re-directional transport system and the means at the beginning to automatically determine the required route through the coating line. The ability to use different coatings, to switch between them at the flick of a switch, and the use of coating robots further enhance the line's flexibility, almost to a point where it becomes difficult to envision an application that the line cannot confidently handle. Such systems are not just a consultant's "pipe dream"; they are being employed successfully in a number of applications.