Oftec Surface Technology Celebrates 25 Years
Oftec Oberflächentechnik GmbH & Co. KG celebrates its 25th anniversary. In the company, which today belongs to the Ebbinghaus Group, the first product carrier was coated in May 1998 at the newly built production facility in Hagenbach.
At that time, Oftec Oberflächentechnik was the first company to use production technology on a par with automotive series production. To this day, driverless transport vehicles transport the paint racks through the factory halls. In 1998, production at Oftec was among the largest KTL contract coating operations for cast and forged products in Europe. Today, of course, coating with other technologies and of components made of other materials is also part of the portfolio. For example, a powder coating plant has been in operation in Hagenbach since the beginning of 2017. Here, components made of steel, galvanized steel and aluminum that have been pre-treated by cathodic dip coating can be coated with different powder coatings. Powder coating can be used to create all conceivable surface, structural and metallic effects. For the KTL coating of aluminum parts, a 2-step process with decapping has been introduced in the pretreatment stage. In addition to cathodic dip coating and powder coating, the range of services also includes wet painting, duplex coatings and corresponding pre-treatments and post-treatments such as paint stripping, parts cleaning and the blasting of components.
Work islands planned according to ergonomic and physiological findings with modern production aids such as crane lifting systems and AGVs (driverless transport vehicles) effectively support the production process. Years of coating know-how and an innovative production concept with just-in-time processing, batch separation, lot tracking and individual storage, etc. ensure precise order processing and the coating of medium and large series with consistent quality at Oftec in Hagenbach.