Master-class in technology-driven coatings Ruskie Kraski

Laufen Bathrooms AG

“Laufen is delighted to be associated with DEBA, a company with whom we share common goals to produce and deliver only the finest quality, innovation and design wishes for clients who aspire to create the best bathroom experience imaginable. We wish DEBA continued success with their major projects throughout Europe.”

Ilker Hussein, Commercial Director Laufen Bathrooms AG E: ilker.hussein@laufen.ch www.laufen.com

re-orientate its business towards the hotel market. Although it still served its remaining cruise ship customers, for more than 12 years, starting in the early 1990s, DEBA built up a highly successful business supplying bespoke modular bathrooms to major hotel projects across Europe. Its ability to meet the individual design wishes of designers and clients made its engineered, off-site bathroom solutions the first choice in many high profile hotel projects for clients such as Ritz Carlton, Kempinski, Capella, Hilton and Radisson Blu.

The hotel business continued to grow in the first decade of the new century and DEBA expanded into the UK and Irish markets as construction of hotels accelerated in these countries. Soon these export markets accounted for some 60 per cent of its total business as the German market remained steady thanks to numerous hotel renovation projects.

New directions

All this changed with the crash of 2008. Prestige new hotel projects were now rare but while many of its competitors did not survive, DEBA brought in new investment and shook up its management structure. In 2011 it appointed a new CEO, Henrik Dinesen. Crucially it also made the decision to switch its focus to bathrooms for the high-end residential projects that were a growing market in the UK.

Under Mr Dinesen’s leadership, DEBA has now succeeded in becoming the market leader in the production and delivery of highend, off-site bathrooms for UK residential projects. Its clients have included European Land, the Heron Group, Capco, Canary Wharf Construction and CIT, It has worked with many of the UK’s major contractors, including the Mace Group, Sir Robert McAlpine and Carillion.

DEBA’s main production site remains at Salzwedel, which is home to the company headquarters and more than 200 highly trained workers. It also operates a smaller production facility in Poland. The more complex, high-specification bathrooms are usually produced at Salzwedel while the simpler, lower cost units, for hospitals or retirement homes, for example, are made in Poland. Total production at both sites is currently running at around 3,000 bathrooms a year but with a clear upwards trend.

“We are very proud that DEBA has been selected to provide modular bathrooms for the Battersea Power Station project. It is not only the biggest contract we have ever undertaken but also gives us invaluable visibility in the UK construction industry,” says Henrik Dinesen. “To be associated with the redevelopment of such an iconic building – an Art Deco masterpiece that has been a landmark on the London skyline since the 1930s – is a huge boost to DEBA’s image and reputation. We intend to ensure that our clients – and the lucky people who finally take up residence in the apartments – are completely satisfied with the quality of our products for years to come.” n

MASTER-CLASS IN TECHNOLOGYDRIVEN COATINGS

The Russian Coatings Corporation is a technology leader in the development and manufacture of advanced liquid and powder coating products for a wide range of industrial applications. Philip Yorke takes a closer look at a company that is continuing to build on its diverse product portfolio and extend its global reach.

The Russian Coatings Corporation, (Ruskie Kraski) was founded over 175 years ago and has grown to become a major Russian player in the production of high-tech coatings. The company has a diverse portfolio of products that range from decorative coatings to automotive finishes and a wide range of industrial coatings, as well as a range of anti-corrosive materials.

Russian Coatings currently employs 1200 people and produces more than 40,000 tons of coating products per year.

Innovation and investment driving sales

Major investments in new plant and technology that were initiated by Russian Coatings in 2012 and 2013 are now producing the desired results. Today the company’s rolling investment programme continues with the installation of a fifth powder coatings production line. In addition, the company’s modern R&D centre has been enhanced with the latest testing equipment designed to measure the protective properties of paint materials. In the meantime, work continues on its small-batch production facilities.

In order to improve its environmental and

industrial safety standards yet further, the company has installed a closed water circuit for vacuum pumps as well as a special system for its alkali washing waste re-circulation plant. In 2013 alone, it committed more than US$ 3 million to the latest IT systems and a state-of-the-art warehouse for the packaging of its finished products. In the nearest future it is also planning to replace its main reactors and mixers in its resin workshop, which will significantly increase its capacity and improve its portfolio of binders to produce the automotive and industrial paint materials.

Valery Abramov, Russian Coatings’ CEO, commented, “Thanks to our long-term strategic planning, we are seeing stable and consistent growth of sales in each of our niche markets. One of our fastest growing sectors is the industrial division which includes anti-corrosive materials such as our ‘Prodecor’™, a special material that we have developed for roads and airfields that is ‘Linia’™, and the range of products ‘Strela’™ designed for agricultural machinery and railway rolling stock applications”.

Increasing demand for water-based paints

In tandem with the company’s continuous improvement of its solvent-based products, Russian Coatings is increasing its production of the latest water-based paints. The growing demand for more environmentallyfriendly products can be seen clearly in the decorative paints sector, where it has a 44 per cent share of the domestic market.

However, the company believes that its best future growth prospects stem from its industrial and powder coatings businesses where there is considerable scope to enter new markets. In addition, there is also significant potential for its new anti-microbial and tailor-made water-based paints.

Growing network of global partners

As part of its strategic plan for future growth, Russian Coatings continues to attract a growing number of new partners and distributors. It has been involved in long-term cooperation programmes for the development of its new materials with such major companies as BASF, Evonik, DuPont, BYK-Chemie and Dow Chemical. Work is underway with the Russian scientific organisations (YarSintez, Yaroslavl State Technical University, St. Petersburg Technical University). The company is justifiably proud of its heritage, as