IKI Paint Symposium ACE, Trucks & Trailers 2023

The IKI Paint Symposium ACE, Trucks & Trailers 2023 by Kansai Helios in Cologne was a great opportunity to find out about global megatrends such as sustainability and energy efficiency in painting technology. In addition to exciting presentations, a tour of a powder coating factory also provided practical and informative insights.

Kansai Helios, one of the world's leading paint and coating manufacturers, hosted the IKI Paint Symposium in Cologne for the first time on November 21, 2023. IKI stands for Innovation, Know-how and Information. This time, the conference at the Steigenberger Hotel in Cologne focused on ACE, Trucks & Trailers. The diverse program of presentations covered coating trends for agricultural equipment, vehicles, trucks, construction machinery and trailers. On the second day, there was also the opportunity to visit the CWS powder coating factory in Düren, North Rhine-Westphalia. CWS Lackfabrik GmbH was acquired by the Kansai Helios Group in spring 2023 in order to strengthen the company's market position in the coating industry.

After the opening by Dietmar Jost, President and Executive Director of the Kansai Helios Group, Martin Kluthe, Managing Director of Chemische Werke Kluthe, gave a highly acclaimed keynote speech entitled "Observations on ACE from a global entrepreneur, farmer and forester". He gave a very practical account of his experiences as an entrepreneur as well as a farmer and forester and was not sparing in his criticism of undesirable developments in politics and bureaucratic obstacles for Germany as an industrial location.

The lecture program was very international and was held by speakers from the global Kansai Helios Group and its partners. In addition to the keynote speech, there were 9 presentations on a wide range of topics. Industry and sector-wide trends such as sustainability and energy efficiency were on the agenda, as were case studies from daily practice. Ass. Prof. Dr. Miha Steinbücher from Kansai Helios presented energy-saving and sustainable coatings, also against the backdrop of the European Green Deal. The aim here is to reduce emissions by 55% by 2030 and achieve climate neutrality by 2050. In practice, this means using appropriate recycling solutions, for example when it comes to separating the coating from the substrate at the end of its life cycle.

Peter Frese from CWS Powder Coatings addressed the special situation of the powder coating industry in his presentation on energy-saving powder coating solutions for ACE. There is a particular need for action on the subject of energy due to the rise in energy prices. When curing powder coatings, 95 percent of customers still rely on gas ovens, with temperatures of 180 to 200 degrees for 10 minutes being used as standard. Low-temperature powder coatings can provide a remedy: by reducing the temperature from 180 to 150 degrees, the savings potential is around 20 percent with a simultaneous productivity gain of up to 25 percent higher throughput speed. Energy savings with maximum corrosion protection can also be achieved through so-called powder-in-powder applications, as curing is only required once instead of twice. Savings can also be made in terms of system technology, for example by using the exhaust air energy from the curing oven or by using infrared technology instead of gas ovens.

Corrosion resistance is important in coating, especially in areas such as ACE, trucks and trailers, and this in turn has a lot to do with adequate pre-treatment. In the presentation "Comparison of surface preparation methods before coating", Bojan Crtalic and Peter Drakslar from FerroCrtalic discussed aspects such as technical cleanliness, surface roughness and coating thickness. They also gave an overview of various pre-treatment and cleaning methods, including common mechanical processes as well as laser and dry ice cleaning, and compared the advantages and disadvantages.

A live link-up with Shunsuke Nozaki from the Mitsui Institute for Global Strategic Studies in Japan provided interesting facts and insights into long-term global macro trends and developments in agriculture. The presentation "Insights into trends & developments for ACE from a global market leader" dealt with sustainable management and the increasing demand for food due to global population growth.

Wolfgang Pilz from Palfinger gave a practical report: The company paints cylinders in Bulgaria and was planning to expand its capacity from 50,000 to 250,000 cylinders. Various material technologies such as water-based paints, solvent-based paints and alternative paints were evaluated, discussions were held with potential suppliers and tests were carried out with regard to pre-treatment, application technology and drying times. Finally, a concept with an optimized system layout was implemented, including a continuous blasting system, wet-chemical pre-treatment and automatic application with Glocke and Rembrandtin as partners for the coatings.

The presentations were accompanied by a small, informative industry exhibition at the Steigenberger Hotel in Cologne, featuring companies from the coatings and measurement technology sectors and providing a good opportunity for professional discussions. The day was rounded off in a traditional restaurant in the center of Cologne. The excursion to CWS Powder Coatings in Düren on the following day was also exciting. In the modern production facility, the participants were able to gain an insight into the production of powder coatings as well as their logistics and quality assurance. Here, for example, samples are constantly taken from production and analyzed in the in-house laboratory to guarantee a consistently high quality standard. Once again, many valuable impressions were gained on this day. (OM-1/24)