In the old days at Soliant LLC in Lancaster, South Carolina, employees pushed 275-lb drums filled with acrylic resin powder to a scale for weighing and adding to a mix. Once the powder was weighed out, two employees manually scooped 1.5 lb at a time from the drums to the mixing vessel, the beginning stage of the process.The scale was used to ensure that only the amount of powder specified in the mixing process for that particular paint be added to the mixing vessel. In the vessel, the powder was stirred into a mixture about the thickness of mayonnaise.

This typical aero mechanical conveyor system with an integral sack tip hopper was instrumental in ensuring a dependable and consistent flow of soft acrylic powder without lumps or sticking.

Before scooping into the mixing vessel, employees first had to manually inspect the contents of each drum and physically break up any lumps or sticky powder. Speed and consistency varied from application to application. Each application required an average of 25 minutes per employee or almost a man hour for each operation.

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