Robotic paint line is Albers family’s newest business

Bret Albers can’t quite explain how his family went from the potato chip business to the widget painting business.

“It’s been kind of a running joke,” he says, one he hopes will have a profitable punchline.

Probably the best explanation is that Albers and his siblings have owned several companies through the years, including pizza restaurants and a courier service. Art’s and Mary’s Tater Chips, which they bought in 2000, just happened to be one of the better known ones. About the time they were approached about selling that business, which they did earlier this year, conversations with a longtime family friend led to a new venture: Albers Finishing & Solutions.

The friend, who owns a manufacturing business, needed to have his product painted but didn’t want to install a paint line.

“We basically said, ‘Hey, we’ll take that project on,’ ” Albers said.

To do it, they built a 24,750-square-foot facility just off U.S. 400 two miles north of Cheney. Inside is what Albers calls a “state-of-the-art, computerized, robotic paint line.”

Now they’re looking for other clients beside their friend who gave them the idea in the first place.

“You take somebody who makes widgets,” Albers said. “If he needs those finished, that’s the kind of stuff we can run on our line with a very high level of consistency and quality.

“Once we get a product into our system, it gets painted exactly the same way each time. That’s the benefit of robotics.”

The paint line consists of conveyor system connecting machines that wash items, paint them with primer and top coat, then dry them. The system was installed by Salina-based IntelliFinishing, with help from Downey Consulting of Cheney. A Wichita company, Spray Equipment & Service Center, supplied the paint-mixing equipment.

The system is built to handle objects up to 2 feet wide, 4 feet tall and 8 feet long, although Albers says there’s “a little wiggle room” for slightly larger items.

The line uses liquid paint, which Albers said can be dried at lower temperatures than powder coating and plating. That makes it good for items with seals, bearings and other heat-sensitive parts.

While some large manufacturers have their own liquid paint lines, Albers said, “You and I can’t take our widgets in there and get them finished. We’re an open-to-the-public type thing. There’s not anything like this in the area.”

Albers also hopes to serve manufacturers who have “maxed out” their own internal paint lines.

“We can take some of their little stuff. It allows us to provide some options to folks.”

Albers and his brother, Craig, are the primary owners of the company, while some other siblings have small shares in it. The company expects to employ about 15 people.

It’s currently doing work for some smaller manufacturers while going through the process of qualifying to work for bigger operations.

“To work for the John Deeres of the world and places like that, there are a lot of things you have to go through,” Albers said.

This story was originally published July 20, 2016 at 6:03 PM with the headline "Robotic paint line is Albers family’s newest business."