Influence of Finishing Colour on the Efficiency of Automated Production Line for Wooden Doors

Porta KMI Poland S.A. company has implemented a fully automated intelligent technological line TechnoPORTA for customized mass-production of technical door leaves. Each door leaf is provided with a unique QR code. It allows the line modules to individually adjust the machining parameters to the currently processed element according to the IT controlling system. Before entering the TechnoPorta line, the door leaves are not sorted, although the high capacity characteristic of mass production is required. Therefore, the aim of this short test was to verify the influence of leaf segregation by colour on the efficiency of the TechnoPorta line. Three groups of door leaves – white, black anthracite and mixed – were tested. The test included measurements of the time interval between successive door leaves, which is the tact of the line. The test showed that each time the machining parameters are changed due to colour changes, the tact of the line is approximately twice as long. The colour segregation of door leaves influences the efficiency of the production line. In the case of a single-color set, the tact of the line is half that of a mixed set. The less frequent the colour changes, the greater the production time savings.