Technology once again opens new possibilities and commercial forces create a dividend of greater sustainably. The industry’s sustainability profile takes a step forward thanks to technology that will preserve the UK and Scotland’s famous Forth Bridge for 25 years.
Posted at: 13 January 2012 14:41:00 | Posted by: Sonja Schulte, Vincentz Network Do you use DOE?
DOE - is the abbreviation of "Design of Experiments" and is used by many R&D labs in order to reduce the time required to develop coatings. This at least is the theory. Recently, I came accross a survey in the internet on expericences with DOE. Opinions are divided. Some say it is a good tool, especially for new comer others are frustated while using it. Despite the fact, that DOE is well established in other industry and that this technique is known in the coatigns industry is known for years it is still not fully accepted in the coatings industry. Is exprience more important and faster than statistical methods?
The printing inks industry has undergone dramatic changes in recent years. Among the challenges facing the industry are accelerating raw material costs and supply shortages, regulation and sustainability issues. Companies are desperately trying to reduce costs and increase efficiency.
Posted at: 22 December 2011 14:49:00 | Posted by: Natallia Abraztsova, Vincentz Network Durability of the effect
Recently I’ve attended our Conference "Automotive Coatings” in Berlin. I was pleasantly surprised about lively discussions by participants. One of the topics responding to a great deal of interest was a theme of smart coatings. According to the experts, the industrial need for smart coatings is in the fields of self-healing, anti-finger-print, easy-to-clean, stability to UV-light and low energy (reflecting light). The advantage of such coatings is obvious: more performance properties make a coating attractive for a number of special applications. But what about the durability of the effect? I think the durability of the functional coatings is the most important issue to research and to work on.
More efforts are necessary to save our environment - our future. I ask for more cooperations - not only between universities or institutions and industry, but much more between the industrial companies. I claim for much more networking to gain more sustainable alternatives. Without losing know-how, but gaining cost saving, avoiding drawbacks and efficient realization of new developments. Here are my arguments - what do you think?
Posted at: 1 December 2011 05:20:00 | Posted by: Prof. Rigoberto Advincula, University of Houston, USA Graphene materials in nanocoatings
The next popular nanofiller material that should find its way in nanocomposite applications for coatings should be graphene. This may yet replace the popular nanoclay and carbon nanotube nanofillers. Due to its well-known fast electron transport, excellent mechanical and thermal properties, and very high surface area, graphene has been the subject of intense scientific interest as evidenced by the rapid increase in the number of publications since 2004 - the 2010 Nobel prize winners in Physics.
When it comes to automotive coating, so-called integrated paint processes (IPP) are on everyone’s lips these days. According to numerous sources, these systems will be the key technology for vehicle finishing.
When can we all get back to the business of doing business? It is thought that when you add it all up, regulation takes up 20% or more of a company’s time and resources. Should we follow the example of others and take to the streets, demonstrate, riot, use our redundant stock to paint slogans on placards and graffiti on government buildings? I think not, but we have to find ways to deal with reducing the extraordinary burden that REACH and other legislation in the pipeline is imposing on the industry. It seems that REACH has become the father of future generations of regulation. Are you up to speed, do you have a business plan for life under REACH?
New developments are sometimes "only" slight changes in the formulation. Not every new product has really been newly invented. Why should it? Researchers know about a good basic mixture. A core which is already okay and just needs to be pimped a bit for a few performances. The company target to be innovative is one of the bullet points on the portfolio presentation. This puts a company's reseach department under strong pressure, so that the company is forced to sell products featuring only minor changes as new products.
