QIB Industrial Coating Practice Forum 2024

The Qualitätsgemeinschaft Industriebeschichtung e. V. (QIB) once again hosted the Industrial Coating Practice Forum 2024 in Wetzlar from November 14 - 15. The conference was once again very well attended with over 232 participants and 35 exhibitors.

The 12th Praxisforum Industriebeschichtung of the Qualitätsgemeinschaft Industriebeschichtung e. V. (QIB) from November 14 - 15, 2024 was once again the major industry meeting for the powder coating sector. Despite the challenging economic situation, it even recorded a slight increase in visitors and ensured a full town hall in Wetzlar. Representatives from companies, experts, users and, for the press, the editorial teams of Besser Lackieren and Surface Technology Online were present. 16 exciting presentations were on the agenda plus an evening program and, as an additional highlight, the presentation of the QIB trainee prize "Everyone Needs Powder Award".

The QIB Industrial Coating Practice Forum traditionally began with the opening by the Mayor of Wetzlar, Manfred Wagner, who emphasized the importance of the conference for Wetzlar as a business location. Markus Kopp, Chairman of the Board of QIB e.V., announced the most important key figures and highlights of the association's activities in his annual review for 2024. The QIB now has 164 members, including 102 coating companies and 62 supporting members. The QIB's social media presence has also grown, with 983 followers now following the association on LinkedIn. The QIB's information sheets are now all available in German and English. Sales of the QIB test film, which has also been available in white for dark surfaces since 2019, increased to 845 films in 2024.

Matthias Bader, Chairman of the Technical Commission, presented the QIB blasting project, which was also the subject of a separate presentation. In this project, 13 different blasting media were tested to find out which would best provide the desired adhesive strength and corrosion resistance. For the project, over 100 steel plates were blasted according to specifications and then coated with a single-layer powder coating system (Surface Technology Online presents the results). The Technical Commission's standardization work has also made progress. For example, the revision of DIN EN ISO 12944-6 has been tackled, others such as ISO 9466 are about to be published and English versions are also available.

Last but not least, the QIB Next Generation, which serves to promote young talent and will present itself in Wetzlar in 2023, was not to be missed. It was able to hold its first meetings and project discussions and has also expanded its video series, which focuses on the visual assessment of coated surfaces, among other things. A QIB training program is also on the project list.

The topical lecture program kicked off with a presentation on powder coating on porous substrates. Tore Sievers from Eurolacke spoke about the challenges of preparing zinc coatings and duplex coatings, applying the top coat and how much can go wrong, for example due to outgassing defects caused by broken zinc coatings. Lukas Licher from EBS Licher offered an informative journey through the history of powder coating in his presentation "Powder coating through the ages". Founded in 1968, the company has gone through all the technical innovation cycles of the past decades. Powder coating has established itself as a coating technology during this time, and there are now around 3,000 - 3,500 coating companies in Germany alone. Nevertheless, the industry is currently facing difficult challenges, the keywords being a shortage of skilled workers, increasing production pressure and declining investment. This has resulted in new trends such as retrofitting, i.e. a kind of complete overhaul using used but still functional plant components, and other measures and optimizations to increase efficiency.

Retrofitting, in conjunction with digitalization, was also the focus of another joint presentation by MS, Coatmaster and MBS. Manuel Kluckner from MS, Nils Reinke from Coatmaster and Steven Poth from MBS presented a practical project in which an existing powder coating system was converted, optimized and expanded. Using the closed-loop process from MS in conjunction with Coatmaster coating thickness measurement technology, it was possible to achieve productivity gains, for example through powder savings, as well as quality improvements. All while simultaneously automating and digitizing the production data.

Dirk Michels from Fraunhofer IPA gave a similar presentation entitled "Preventive maintenance as a quality lever in painting technology". Various measures such as a "zero-defect program" or Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) can increase process stability, which contributes to increased efficiency and can therefore be a significant competitive advantage in difficult economic times. Current trends such as cost-effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability and resource savings were also reflected in other contributions. Rolf Weber from Interpon/AkzoNobel not only presented his company's sustainability efforts, but also presented corresponding solutions for the powder coating industry, such as low-E powder coatings or single-layer corrosion protection. More and more emphasis is also being placed on optimization in application technology, as was demonstrated in the presentation by Mark Dekreon from Gema, who presented more efficient automatic guns, application pumps and powder management.

A special highlight at the beginning of the second day of the Praxisforum Industriebeschichtung was a live podcast. Ernst-Hermann Timmermann, DFO Deutsche Forschungsgesellschaft für Oberflächenbehandlung e.V., and Markus Vüllers, Markus Vüllers Coaching, presented fables, legends and esotericism from the field of industrial coating technology, moderated by Marko Schmidt, Besser Lackieren.

Both speakers have many years of practical experience and can therefore tell a lot about myths and misunderstandings. Whether chipped coatings, the need for calibration before measuring coating thickness, the myth of magnetic descaling or supposedly "self-volatilizing" corrosion protection oils - both speakers had a wealth of practical examples at the ready, which were both informative and entertaining.

Finally, in his presentation "Corrosion protection standards - what does the future hold?", Lars Walther, Managing Director of the QIB, cleared up some misinterpretations regarding existing standards such as "powder coating corrosion protection C5-vH in accordance with DIN EN ISO 12944". And answered the question as to why there is still no international corrosion protection standard for powder coating - which, however, is to be tackled as the next step after the Coating Materials Standards Committee (NAB) has passed a corresponding resolution.

The Industrial Coating Practice Forum 2024 was rounded off with an industry exhibition, the presentation of the "Everyone Needs Powder Award" to the best trainees in the profession of "Process Mechanic for Coating Technology" (reported by Surface Technology Online) and an open-ended coaters' meeting with an evening buffet. The next Industrial Coating Practice Forum is planned for November 13-14, 2025, once again in Wetzlar. (OM-12/24)