Throughout the year, many indoor ice arenas need to swap out or completely remove logos for a variety of reasons, but most often when hosting big one-off games or tournaments. Hakan Gronlund of H2OVortex, the international distributor of the REALice water treatment system, forwarded pictures detailing how the Lanxess Arena in Cologne, Germany goes about logo swaps. What I noticed is the operations team is using a spray boom skid that is such a great idea (and a fine example of German innovation), I couldn’t wait to share.
That’s because they’ve taken the spray boom and elevated it to a higher level!
Elevating the Spray Boom
What they constructed at the Lanxess Arena is a spray boom skid delivering better paint coverage than when the spray boom is dragged along the ice. In addition to better coverage, they’ve reduced the amount of clean-up needed — and making the application of paint easier on the operators.
The paint boom skid looks like a prep table you might see in an industrial kitchen, or a modified shopping cart. It has four wheels, so it’s easy to move and control as it’s pulled along the ice. The spray boom itself is screw-mounted on two extension racks located opposite the operator. This makes it less likely to dirty the clothes and shoes of the operator while spreading the paint and is physically less demanding on the operator.
Protecting the Boards Too
The spray boom skid doesn’t stop there, either, when it comes to innovative ideas the Lanxess Arena’s operations team has incorporated. When spraying next to the boards, a plastic sheet is added to the boom to protect the boards, and advertising, from errant paint sprays. That reduces the amount of cleaning that needs to be done to remove the paint that would otherwise end up the boards. The plastic sheet is easy to install, and remove, once the outside lane has been completed.
Have you found ways to do things better at your indoor ice arena? If so, drop me a note and let me know.
In the meantime, hats off to the operations team at the Lanxess Arena for doing things differently, and better.
