Refresher Coatings Match Tight Production Schedules

UltraSyntec specialises in providing high-performance flooring solutions in line with the operational requirements of business and industry. When Sheard Packaging, the UK’s leading independent corrugated solutions provider, needed refresher floor coatings at the company’s manufacturing site in West Yorkshire, the team sprang immediately into action. Work was mobilised for the Easter Bank Holiday weekend to coincide with a planned shutdown at the plant.

What is a refresher coating?

Refresher coatings are specified and formulated for floors that require more frequent treatment, for both aesthetic and hygiene reasons. For Sheard Packaging, keeping their production areas clean and in pristine working order is a priority. The company supplies significant amounts of packaging to the food and beverage industry, so maintaining the highest standards of hygiene and cleanliness is imperative.

Refresher coatings also play a role in keeping floors in optimum condition for operational reasons, often avoiding the need for major floor installations and repairs and reducing ongoing maintenance costs.

Twenty years of teamwork

The UltraSyntec team are regular visitors to the Sheard Packaging site. The company was responsible for installing the original flooring, and Bank Holiday projects have been a feature of working life for the past two decades, with UltraSyntec enjoying a thriving commercial relationship with the packaging giant. 

This year, the teams were tasked with recoating Bay 6 and the Goepfert corridor, named after the German equipment manufacturers, which are vital to their operations and house some of their most specialist machinery.

A tried and tested process

Work began with mechanical preparation of the entire area using a diamond grinder to remove any surface laitance and previous coatings, followed by thorough vacuuming. Areas requiring specialist repairs were identified and treated using two-pack epoxy fillers.

Once preparation works and repairs were complete, the areas were coated using KDR’s EpoCoat HB 600, a high build epoxy coating from KDR Resins, and left to cure overnight. A second coat was completed the following day once full cure was achieved on the first coat.

EpoCoat HB 600 is a solvent-free, high build, high viscosity epoxy resin floor coating which offers both protective and decorative properties for concrete flooring and other substrates. Features include high levels of resistance to abrasion and chemical attack, ease of cleaning and fast application, which make it ideal for commercial spaces including manufacturing and food processing.

Meeting the challenges

Working in an area where machinery is already in place does come with its challenges. Access can be difficult, and the UltraSyntec team had to use their knowledge and expertise to cut in the machines and coat underneath by hand. In addition, the tight production shift schedules run by Sheard Packaging also meant the project had to be completed within strict time constraints over the Easter shutdown, with no opportunity for overrun.

“As always, UltraSyntec have done an outstanding job for us,” stated Mr Lee Shackleton, Managing Director for Sheard Packaging. “Their service and the quality of their installations is outstanding, and we are glad to have them as one of our partners. Will and Lee always strive to ensure that our projects are carried out within strict timeframes due to us working continental shifts seven days a week, which allows for very little downtime. Thank you to the whole UltraSyntec team, we look forward to having you in again very soon.”

Lee Shackleton, Managing Director, Sheard Packaging

The project was completed on time and to budget over just two days, covering a total floor area of 970m².