As a manufacturing operator or OEM business catering to aerospace needs, you likely face constant pressure to reduce operational costs while maintaining the exacting performance standards that the industry demands.
There are numerous areas to optimize savings, but if you want a simple start that yields big payoffs, you can’t go wrong with cost-saving coatings.
Coatings represent a significant opportunity for cost reduction, particularly when you consider the labor, material waste, and downtime associated with multi-coat systems and frequent reapplication cycles. At APV Engineered Coatings, we’ve developed specialized coating solutions that address these cost drivers without compromising the durability and performance aerospace applications require.
Learn more about our cost-saving solutions and how they can improve margins for your aerospace applications.
Single-Coat Systems Reduce Labor and Material Costs
Whether it’s coating a fuselage or protecting aircraft surfaces and components from temperature spikes, there’s always a need to use multiple coats. Here’s the problem, though:
Multi-coat application processes drive up costs in several ways. Each layer requires surface preparation, application time, curing periods, and quality inspection. Labor hours accumulate quickly when technicians must apply primers, base coats, and topcoats separately.
What if you could reduce the number of coating layers to just one?
Our AEROPRITE™ Aluminum Aircraft Paint eliminates these compounding costs. This single-coat system delivers excellent adhesion on aircraft wheels and brakes without requiring a primer or additional layers. The formulation bonds directly to metal substrates, reducing material consumption and cutting application time significantly.
Fewer coats also mean fewer opportunities for application errors, which translates to less rework and waste.
Faster Turnaround Times Maximize Fleet Availability
The time savings extend beyond the application itself. Single-coat systems allow faster turnaround on maintenance schedules, reducing aircraft downtime. When you’re managing tight maintenance windows, the ability to complete coating work in one pass instead of three creates meaningful operational advantages.
Material Waste Reduction Through Formulation Precision
You need a partner for coating solutions with an in-depth understanding of aerospace needs so that you acquire engineered coatings without the guesswork.
At APV Engineered Coatings, we work directly with aerospace manufacturers to develop formulations tailored to specific applications. Our in-house R&D capabilities and testing laboratory allow us to engineer coatings that meet your exact performance requirements from the start.
This precision reduces material waste and testing costs while delivering the durability and performance these specialized applications require.
Precision Masking Reduces Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul Costs
Engine overhauls and component refurbishment present unique coating challenges. Diffusion coating processes for turbine engines operate at temperatures above 1500°F and protect specific areas from unwanted coating requires maskants that can withstand extreme thermal conditions.
Extreme temperatures necessitate extreme temperature performance, especially in your maskant materials.
Our high-temperature maskant products maintain their integrity throughout these processes. They prevent coating in selected areas during diffusion coating for new and refurbished turbine blades, which eliminates labor costs that are associated with removing unwanted coating or replacing components. Poor masking leads to coating in restricted zones, resulting in additional labor to remove the coating or scrapping expensive turbine blades.
Custom Preforms Solve Difficult Masking Challenges
Some aerospace components feature geometries that make traditional masking methods inefficient or impractical. Turbine blade platforms, imprecise manifolds, and other complex surfaces often require extensive hand masking, which increases labor costs and introduces variability in coverage.
Maskant Custom Preforms address these challenges through precision engineering. We design these preforms based on your specific component geometries and masking requirements. The custom-fitted design reduces application time and ensures consistent coverage across production runs, reducing the skilled labor hours typically spent on hand masking complex geometries.
Long-Term Performance Reduces Maintenance Frequency
The true cost of a coating extends beyond the initial application. Coatings that degrade quickly under operational stress require frequent reapplication, multiplying labor and material costs over the component’s service life.
Our aerospace coatings undergo comprehensive testing to ensure they withstand the environmental stresses aircraft components face. We test for corrosion resistance, thermal stability, abrasion resistance, and chemical exposure to verify long-term performance.
Coatings that maintain their protective properties longer reduce the frequency of maintenance cycles and the associated costs of repeated surface preparation and reapplication.
APV Engineered Coatings: Masking Materials and Custom Coatings That Cut Costs
Cost reduction in aerospace maintenance requires more than simply choosing cheaper materials. It demands engineered solutions that reduce application complexity, prevent costly errors, and deliver durable performance over extended service intervals.
If you’re evaluating masking or coating options for aerospace applications or have a custom project in mind, contact APV Engineered Coatings for a consultation.
We can discuss your specific requirements and provide samples for testing in your application environment.
