In the world of coatings, speed and quality are not often accomplished at the same time.
Len MorrisBut for Viewrail in Goshen, Indiana — manufacturers and coaters of premium stair and railing systems — they have captured the ability to quickly churn out quality projects through their design, engineering, fabrication, and powder coating operation at breathtaking speed.
“We are a one-stop-shop, so we can control the production time and the lead time,” says C.J. Hock, Marketing Specialist at Viewrail. “That allows us to respond to customer’s needs at a very fast pace as we take raw materials and send them out as refined masterpieces.”
'Artistry and Unbridle Automation'
Owner Len Morris has a more straightforward summation of how they can design and manufacture their products, run them through a powder coating process, and ship them so quickly with some of the shortest lead times in the industry, often under 10 days.
“We unleash human artistry,” Morris says. “We unbridle automation.”
Much of that quick lead-times involves having a powder coating team and system that is flexible, reliable, and versatile, which Powder Coating Supervisor Nick McLaughlin says they have in place.
"We can cut mill prep, coat a post and put it in a box all within a two-hour time frame," McLaughlin says. "Depending on the complexity of the order, an order can come in and be in a box in 24hrs. Glass and Flight orders are out within 10 days."
Floating Stair Systems
Viewrail in Goshen, Indiana manufacturers and coaters of premium stair and railing systems.Viewrail manufactures floating stair systems along with premium glass, rod, and cable railing. Its sister company StairSupplies manufactures traditional stair components, which are manufactured in-house in one of nine specialized facilities in Goshen.
The company has grown close to 60% year-after-year, and just had its first year of $100 million in sales. Morris says they have a goal of $500 million in sales in the next five years.
A major component of their success is what Morris calls the idea that “Employees are Eternal.” Viewrail and StairSupplies employ more than 300 people across nine facilities in Goshen.
“We maintain a high degree of quality through treating our people like they are eternal,” says Morris, who adds that retaining employees is the key to the company’s high-quality throughput, continuity, and improved efficiencies.
Recently, Viewrail announced that hourly employees will earn at least $25 per hour and salaried staff at least $55,000. It is all part of the goal in a labor crunch to keep the well-trained staff the company has, as well as attract new team members when they expand to meet demand.
“I don’t think about ways to keep our payroll down; I’m seeking to find how much we can pay our employees,” says Morris, who added that the pay increase is just a start for the company.
“We expect to continue to grow, and our associates' income can grow with us,” he says. “We manufacture premium products, and we want the best possible team members in every position in the company. It is more than simply paying a competitive wage in a competitive environment. We believe this is the right step to take for all our stakeholders, including our current employees, new hires, our company itself, and our customers.”
Investing in Additional Training for Employees
Viewrail recently added a Gema OptiColor solution in order to minimize downtime and increase efficiencies through a more streamlined powder coating operation.In addition to increasing compensation, Morris says the company is investing in additional training for employees, with all employees spending time in the company’s new training center to get hands-on experience with every aspect of the products it makes.
“We want to put world-class tools in our employees' hands to improve productivity so that we provide more value to them and, in turn, can provide more value to our customers,” Morris says. “When people understand how crucial their role is, they are able to gain more enrichment in their professional lives.”
Kirk Morrison, one of five employees in the glass shop, likes the “eternal employees” approach that Morris has pushed through the company.
“I’ve been with the company for 10 months, and this is such a blessing for my family and me,” he says. “I think it’s great for recruiting and retaining employees.”
While coating operations have often been a bottleneck for some manufacturing operations — with racking, cleaning, coating, and drying taking up a substantial part of the process — Viewrail has made it a focus to get the coating process down to a science and at the highest quality it can provide.
New Gema OpticColor Solution
The full line includes an Gema OptiColor system allows for quick color changes, often making a switch in 30 seconds or less.Viewrail recently added a Gema OptiColor solution in order to minimize downtime and increase efficiencies through a more streamlined powder coating operation. The system allows for quick color changes, often making a switch in 30 seconds or less.
“We can spray 10 of their 23 colors with only a few minutes for the color change,” says McLaughlin, whose operation also counts on American Industrial Coatings, PPG, Fastenal, and Midwest Finishing Systems as its top suppliers.
The Gema system also allows for operators to blow off the gun body and select the next powder color to use. The hoppers can be cleaned and refilled in the background during operation, so the user can easily manage an unlimited number of colors.
In addition, all powder circuits are sealed, so when an operator switches from one color to the next, no powder contamination can affect the finishing quality.
“Time was of the essence when we were looking at what powder coating system we wanted,” McLaughlin says. “Some of the other manufacturers were quoting us 10 to 15 minute color changing times, and we knew we needed to get things sped up as quickly as possible.”
Batch and Conveyor System
The stair stringers and handrails go through a batch process, while a conveyor handles the posts and smaller parts.Currently, Viewrail is powder coating all the handrail parts of the stairs, as well as the smaller parts that connect the handrail to the post. The stair stringers and handrails go through a batch process, while a conveyor handles the posts and smaller parts.
“We can do about 1,000 posts a day on the conveyor line,” McLaughlin says. “There are three to four smaller parts for each post, so we are looking at about 4,000 separate parts that go through the line each day.”
Even though Viewrail and StarSupplies sell to builders and installers, they say their focus is still on the end customer who has the product installed in their home.
“At the end of the day, we want that homeowner to stand back and say ‘Wow, they thought of everything,’” McLaughlin says. “We mean down to the last screw. We want it perfect, and we don’t want the installer or the homeowner to worry about anything. That’s what we shoot for every time we send something out of our facility.”
Visit https://www.viewrail.com and https://www.stairsupplies.com. All images courtesy of Viewrail.
Go Inside the Viewrail Facility and See the Coating Process
