Hentzen Coatings Inc. Celebrates 90 Years
On July 19, 2013, Hentzen
Coatings, Inc. held a gala celebration for
the 90th anniversary of the company’s
founding. The event was attended
by more than 400 people, including
customers, suppliers and employees.
The American Coatings Association
honored Hentzen Coatings President
and CEO Albert Hentzen with a
Meritorious Service Award recognizing
Hentzen Coatings’ success and
longevity, and Al’s industry service.
ACA noted that Al has “contributed
to the coatings industry through his selfless service to ACA, both as a
member of the ACA Board of Directors and as a long-standing leader and
member of the Industrial Coatings Committee. By dedicating his remarkable
professional skill, leadership, and ceaseless efforts to the success of the
industry, Albert Hentzen played a key role in the effectiveness and success of
both Hentzen Coatings and the American Coatings Association.”
Few family-owned companies survive and thrive into a fourth generation,
but Al Hentzen was quick to state, “This celebration is about the whole
Hentzen organization, because our full team’s dedication to exceptional
customer service, and leadership through continual innovation, guarantees
our future success.”
The program presentations noted Hentzen Coatings’ long history as a
technical innovation leader in military, industrial and aerospace coatings.
(See story about CARC powder topcoats on page 30.) Now in its fourth
generation of family management, Hentzen looks to the future, and Al
Hentzen noted that he looks forward to celebrating the 100th anniversary of
the company in 2023. Hentzen announced the establishment of Hentzen de
Mexico, and August’s opening of an office/warehouse facility in Queretaro,
Mexico, to support the General Industrial business in Mexico.
Wisconsin’s Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch presented a
certificate of recognition that noted Hentzen’s history as an innovator and as
a company that maintains its hallmarks of trust and integrity to benefit its
customers, employees, and partners. Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson and
City of Milwaukee Commissioner Rocky Marcoux also attended the event
and offered remarks. Visit www.hentzen.com.
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Powder Producers
Corporacion Peruana de Productos Quinicos S.A.
Lima, El Augustino, Peru • www.qroma.com.pe
Powder Application Equipment
Contrast Equipment Company
Kansas City, MO • 816-241-2412 • www.contrastequipment.com
Systems House
Reliant Finishing Systems
Sommerville, AL • 256-355-9000 • www.reliantfinishingsystems.com
Custom Coaters
A & A Global Industries
Hunt Valley, MD • 800-638-6000 • www.aaglobalindustries.com
Advanced Powder Coating, LLC
Shreveport, LA • 318-929-2275 • www.advancedpowdercoating.org
American Powder Coating, LLC
Osage Beach, MO • 573-348-4200 • www.apcpowdercoating.com
Electro Metal Finishing Corp.
Anaheim, CA • 714-630-8940 • www.electrometalfinish.com
Great Lakes Powder Coating, LLC (GLPC)
Walled Lake, MI • 248-522-6222 • www.glpowdercoating.com
InnoVoc Solutions
Montrose, CO • 970-240-4460 • www.innovocsolutions.com
Ray Paul Coating, Inc.
Marietta, GA • 770-926-3185 • www.raypaulcoating.com
The Jor-Mac Company
Lomira, WI • 920-269-8500 • www.jor-mac.com
Auxiliary Equipment
Dinamec Systems, LLC
Marietta, GA • 770-421-1181 • www.dinamecsystems.com
Pretreatment Companies
Freiborne Industries, Inc.
Pontiac, MI • 248-33-2490 • www.freiborne.com
OEM
Global Body and Equipment
Wooster, OH • 330-264-6640 • www.cncmetalproducts.com
PJ Trailers Mfg Co., Inc
Sumner, TX • 903-785-6879 • www.pjtrailers.com
Tennant
Golden Valley, MN • 763-540-1582 • www.tennantco.com
Interpon Fluoromax Receives
Excellence Award
In July, AkzoNobel
Powder Coatings’
Interpon D3000
Fluoromax coatings for
architecture was awarded
a Certificate of Material
Excellence by Material
ConneXion and accepted
into Material ConneXion’s
library of innovative materials. The archive features
more than 7,000 materials in eight distinct categories.
Interpon D3000 Fluoromax is in the Polymers section.
Fiona Levin-Smith, Specification Manager
AkzoNobel Powder Coatings, says that Interpon D3000
Fluoromax went through a strict review process and
was “assessed by a panel of professionals with materials
experience in order to be accepted into the Materials
Library. We are very excited that the coatings will be
displayed in all of Material ConneXion’s ten global
locations and in their online database, highlighting
the leading edge technology that Interpon D3000
Fluoromax offers.”
Interpon D3000 Fluoromax coatings use
fluorocarbon polymer technology to deliver its
protection and performance, on par with liquid PVDF.
Formulated to provide longevity for exterior use on
a range of applications, the coating is suitable for
use in high UV, high humidity and coastal marine
environments or any environment where premium
durability is required, without compromising powder
coatings’ sustainability characteristics.
PPG to Reinstate Cloraflon
Brand Name
Pittsburgh-based PPG Industries’ coil and
extrusion coatings group announced that its line of
fluoroethylene vinyl ether (FEVE)-based powder
coatings will again be marketed under the Coraflon®
brand name, reversing a previous decision to sell them
under the Newlar™ brand name that PPG acquired
with the purchase of Spraylat Corp. last December.
Scott Moffatt, PPG director, marketing, coil and
extrusion coatings, says the decision to revert to the
Coraflon brand name for FEVE-based powder coatings
was made to maintain consistency in the marketplace. “Architects and
specifiers associate the Coraflon brand name with PPG, and it fits more
comfortably into our branding hierarchy for other FEVE-based PPG
coatings such as Coraflon ADS air-dry systems and Coraflon clear coats for
the coil market,” he says. “Ultimately, we believe this is the best decision
for our customers.”
Coraflon powder coatings are based on a proven FEVE resin system
that has delivered superior performance in liquid architectural coatings for
more than 30 years. As a powder formulation, Coraflon coatings provide
the same broad color and gloss range as liquid FEVE coatings – along with
better surface hardness and mar and abrasion resistance – in a solventfree
formulation that emits ultra-low volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
Coraflon powder coatings meet American Architectural Manufacturers
Association (AAMA) 2605 specifications.
Other PPG architectural powder coatings include Envirocron®
03 durable and Envirocron 04 ultra-durable coatings and Duranar®
70-percent polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) coatings. For more
information, visit www.ppgideascapes.com.
In other PPG news, The PPG Industries Foundation has donated $5,000
to Milwaukee Public Schools to support biomedical sciences programs in
six high schools. The grant was made on behalf of the PPG Industries’ Oak
Creek, Wis., industrial coatings plant and facilitated by Caterpillar, a PPG
customer that sponsors programs within the district.
The grant is intended to help the district maintain high-quality,
project-based learning in the biomedical sciences courses by replenishing
consumable materials used by the students, such as enzymes and bloodtyping
kits. The program is part of an effort by the district to provide
students with experiences in the fields of science, technology, engineering
and mathematics (STEM).
BASF Annual Automotive Color Trend Report Released
In August, BASF, Southfield,
Mich., unveiled its annual
automotive color trend report,
which looks 2 to 3 years out and
is based on research efforts by
its team of global color design
experts. The theme of the forecast,
“Making Headway” indicates a
movement toward more color
shades than in previous years, with
BASF presenting 65 new colors to
automakers and designers around
the world.
BASF’s new color offerings
demonstrate how new and brighter
interpretations of colors with
different textures will become
increasingly important to designers
and consumers as people worldwide
strive to highlight individual
uniqueness and regain a more
“human-friendly” life outside of the
digitized world.
“We look to
develop color
spaces that
capture a look
that says ‘this
is me,’” says
Paul Czornij,
technical
manager for
the BASF Color
Excellence
group. “There is
so much emotion
and psychology attached to color,
which makes it an ideal expression
of one’s image to the outside world,
and it works so remarkably well
with car body shapes. You can truly see innovation in
action.”
In North America, cool deep and dark tone colors
such as blue and brown have been refreshed from their
traditional state by changes in depth and brightness.
Special effect technologies, which give colors a threedimensional
quality, and matte finishes, offer a wider
range of options. In addition, greens and bright
yellowish green hues bring new tools for designers
to entice potential car buyers. New areas focusing on
texture modification are also gaining interest.
Based on a recent survey conducted by BASF,
most North American consumers polled (60 percent)
currently drive a neutral color car, such as silver, black
or white, but when asked what color offerings they
preferred from a selection of new colors from BASF’s
trend report, nearly half of the respondents (49 percent)
selected a grouping of brighter jewel-toned shades of
reds and blues.
“This reflects what our color trend research
is showing for color preferences,” says Czornij.
“It underscores the preference for optimism and
confidence pointing toward a better future.”
In the Asia Pacific region, BASF’s color trend
forecast reflects the region’s strong sense of its growing
presence on the global stage—with themes of pride in
culture and identity, independent from trends in other
countries. Neutral colors such as black, silver, gray and
white will continue to dominate the Asia-Pacific market,
but as original designs and personal style becomes
more important to buyers, BASF predicts there will be a
gradual emergence of sophisticated intermediate colors,
such as olive-greens and bluish grays.
In Europe, where people have been impacted by the
economic crisis and changes in energy policy, there is a
tendency to move forward rationally and calmly. This
results in a balance between creative, courageous colors
such as red and green and calmer, neutral colors such
as black and gray. Two colors that represent this shift
are Particular Gray, an elegant black color with a subtle
fine metallic look, and Fiberphyllic, a bold, yellowishgreen
offering a more expressive coarse feel.
Nordson Corporation Completes Acquisition of Kreyenborg Group’s
Polymer Processing Companies
On September 3, 2013, Nordson
Corporation, Westlake, Ohio,
announced it has completed the
acquisition of Münster, Germany-based
Kreyenborg Group’s Kreyenborg GmbH and BKG
Bruckmann & Kreyenborg Granuliertechnik GmbH
companies. The completion of the transaction follows
Nordson’s July 18 announcement that it had entered
into an agreement to acquire the businesses.
“These high quality properties add to our portfolio
of highly engineered melt stream components and
enhance our ability to serve our OEM machine builder
customers in plastic extrusion markets,
ultimately helping them to deliver the
highest value and system performance
to their end users,” says Nordson
President and Chief Executive Officer Michael F. Hilton.
“The new businesses also bring product solutions that
expand Nordson’s addressable market to include plastic
compounding, recycling and related applications. We
are pleased to welcome the employees of Kreyenborg
and BKG to Nordson and are excited by the many
opportunities we see for continued profitable growth.”
Visit www.nordson.com.
Airblast AFC Completes Ohio Rail Project
In August,
Airblast AFC
completed work
on a $1.4 million project for a large Ohio-based rail
group that repairs, sells, manages and leases a fleet of
almost 23,000 various types of railcars and locomotives.
Airblast AFC is a joint venture between Airblast Ltd.
and AFC Finishing Systems (AFC), who has been
manufacturing paint spray booths, air make-up units,
powder coating equipment throughout North America
since 1967.
The new facility is comprised of a blast booth,
painting booth and drying booth for the maintenance of
the railcars. The three booths are all roughly the same
size at 7.62 m wide by 27.43 m long, allowing plenty
of space for the larger railcars. The new facility features
four blast machines that allow up to four operators to
work on a job and personnel lifts to ensure the safety
and comfort of the workers.
The most exciting feature of this installation is the
innovative Airflex Recovery Floor for the automatic
recovery of abrasive materials throughout blast booths.
The Airflex Floor is made of modular “flexible” scraper
corridors of six standard widths that can be produced
to practically any length, giving enormous flexibility to
recover from virtually any floor area. Unlike many other
abrasive recovery systems where civil engineering costs
and/or power consumption often dictate only partial
floor coverage, the Airflex Recovery Floor utilizes 100
percent of the floor space, meaning that operators
do not have to waste any time manually recovering
abrasive.
For more information, visit www.airblast.co.uk.
Chemetall Acquires All Shares of Indian Joint Venture
Effective July 1,
2013, Chemetall
became the sole
owner of its Indian joint venture
Chemetall-Rai. Chemetall has
acquired the remaining 50 percent
shares of its former partners. In
1995, the Indian joint venture was
founded with
the families Rai
and Nath. “The
acquisition is a further milestone
in our growth strategy,” says Joris
Merckx, president of Chemetall,
and adds, “As a sole owner we can
react faster to the demands of the
Indian market and further expand
our surface treatment business in
the Asian region.”
To keep pace with the growth
dynamics of the Indian market,
Chemetall-Rai invested in a second
modern production facility in
2012. The new plant is located
in Chennai, one of the most
important automotive centers in
the Indian subcontinent. In 2012,
the company also acquired the
chemical business of Gramos, a
leading local player for surface
treatment technologies in the
Indian automotive industry.
Asis Ray, managing director
of Chemetall India, says, “With
our global key account structure
we can directly respond to the
requirements and needs of the
global car manufacturers and
suppliers. Our local customers
value our high quality standards
and our technical services, which
they are used to in other regions.”
For many years, the surface
treatment company participates in
the positive growth of the Indian
economy. Besides a slight decline
of economic growth forecast,
India continues to be the fastest
expanding national economy in the
world. With 1.2 billion inhabitants,
India is expected to be the most
populated country by the middle
of this century and with its gross
domestic product (GDP) it will
become the world’s third largest
market after China and the United
States.
Axalta’s New Pilot Reactor
Will Accelerate New Product
Development
Axalta Coating Systems, Wilmington, Del.,
has invested $5 million in a new pilot reactor that
has begun operations to support coatings polymer
research and scale-up activities at its Coatings
Technology Center (CTC) in Wilmington. The stateof-
the-art reactor system is coupled with a complete
process automation and control system to enable
precise control of ingredient amounts and critical
process conditions such as temperature and pressure.
The expansion will enhance product development
capabilities and accelerate the manufacture and
introduction of the next generation of polymers
that offer improved performance properties to meet
customer expectations. The polymers produced from
the pilot reactor can be used for both traditional
solvent based and more environmental friendly water
based coating products.
“Coatings are about appearance and performance,”
explained Axalta Chairman and CEO Charles Shaver.
“Our goal is to provide our customers with the best
possible coatings, ones that will cure faster, adhere
better, offer the latest colors and be more durable than
any others on the market.”
The new pilot reactor is a key component in the
advancement of a variety of polymer technologies
to support innovative coating development.
Formulations that work in a laboratory environment
may not necessarily transfer consistently to full scale
production. The pilot reactor, also known as a semi-
works facility, is a small scale
manufacturing system that allows
new polymer formulations to be
produced in a way that fully mimics
full scale production. Improved first
pass production capability means
increased product speed to market
for our customers.
“Our reactor in Wilmington
will enable us to manufacture and
test new polymer concepts quickly
with lower cycle times and bring
them to market faster than before,”
said Panos Kordomenos, Senior
Vice President for Research &
Development at Axalta.
The CTC is Axalta’s global center
for research and development,
including the work performed
by its specialized polymer
technology team. The new facility
will complement existing Axalta
polymer research capabilities in
Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin
America, providing state-of-theart
polymer production scale-up
resources that will enable the
development of future polymer
technologies for customers around
the world.