Vernici Caldart transforms glass surfaces with advanced solutions for every sector, from industry to design. Our range of finishes, matte, glossy, and transparent, combine durability with aesthetic beauty. By protecting glass and enhancing its appearance, our paints ensure that every product stands out for its quality and visual appeal, offering excellent adhesion and long-lasting performance.
Turn key solutions for industrial wastewater treatment
Design and manufacturing of plants and chemicals for industrial wastewater treatment
Chemical-physical plants
Sludge treatment and compactor systems
Ion exchange demineralization systems and reverse osmosis systems
Oil separators
Filtering systems
Batch type systems
Flotation units
Chemicals and spare parts for water treatment
Technical service, support and maintenance of wastewater treatment plants
In over 15 years, WaterEnergy developed its proved and consolidated industrial water treatment technology specifically designed for chemical and mechanical engineering area
We are happy to be “falsified”, it means that our systems are efficient
Beware of imitations, buy the original!
Introducing the GigaCoater™: elevating efficiency in battery electrode production
Operating as a problem solver:
At Lodi Spa, the synergy between consolidated mechanical know-how and
- Global Life Cycle Assessment of Automotive
Surface Solutions: BASF’s calculation system to optimise costs, efficiency, and carbon footprint. New solutions and developments for sustainability
Understanding the importance of cosmetic packaging: top cosmetics packaging trends in
Decorluxe drives sustainability in its cosmetic packaging hub in synergy with its long-standing paint supplier
Exploring the role of PVD in packaging: the touch of physics that envelops things
Through the looking glass: three packaging trends shaping 2025
FOCUS ON TECHNOLOGY
COMETA: versatility, productivity, and innovation. The three key words to becoming a leader in cosmetic packaging coating
ON TECHNOLOGY
Afterglass and Bormioli Luigi confirm strategic partnership with their long-standing water treatment plant supplier
UV and IR quartz glass lamps: advanced solutions for high-quality, environmentally friendly finishes
Driving innovation: the role of powder coatings in electric vehicles
Dürr equips first BYD plant in Europe with sustainable painting technology
Further optimising VIV Group’s coating process with a new multi-metal nanotechnology pre-treatment cycle 108
The truth about digital formulation: how digital coatings formulation platforms can help accelerate innovation 112 FOCUS ON TECHNOLOGY
Giving new “light” to production processes with a new coating plant
118 HIGHLIGHT OF THE MONTH
Innovation and sustainability in air purification for the paint and industrial coatings industry
122 ADVANCEMENTS
ST Powder Coatings launches the LIGHTNING-FREE powder coating series
& LEGISLATION
Assovernici: the sector is facing serious risks after the confirmation of duties on Chinese titanium dioxide 126 ART WITHIN SURFACES
The Asphalt Art Initiative helps cities to use art and community engagement to improve street safety and revitalise public space 130
myFAIR Web App: the most important industry events at your fingertips
132 COLOUR STUDY
Shifting hues in global automotive colours: embracing the rising popularity of warm niche colours
134 COLOUR STUDY
Pantone introduces Pantone Colour of the Year 2025: PANTONE 17-1230 Mocha Mousse
138 ROAD TO 2050
Elementis achieved EcoVadis Gold Rating for fourth consecutive year
LANXESS achieves good sustainability ratings
Clariant leads the way in sustainable chemistry with complete PFAS-free additive portfolio
AkzoNobel successfully installed hydrogen-powered spray booth at new Belgian Automotive Training Centre 142 HIGHLIGHT OF THE MONTH
Timecore: exhibition spaces of excellence with targeted solutions for surface treatment companies
148 SPECIALIZED TRAINING
ipcm®Academy: vocational training in industrial surface finishing
152 COLOUR STUDY
Brown: the most underrated colour... that is with us every day
156 UCIF INFORMS
UCIF - ANIMA Confindustria Meccanica’s SMART Portal
158 MEETING THE INDUSTRY
Alessia Venturi Editor-in-chief Direttore Responsabile
What is the meaning of luxury, asked journalist Franca Sozzani in an editorial in Vogue magazine1 back in 2011?In short, Sozzani defined luxury as a concept much broader than the price of an object (or service) and not necessarily synonymous with wealth or, even less so, elegance.
Luxury exists when something is beautifully made, when its key feature is quality, when it is the result of research and experimentation, of skill and ingenuity, of attention to detail and the absence of imperfections. Does it make sense to combine the concept of luxury with finishing, which for a long time was considered the last of the industrial processes – the dirtiest, smelliest, and most impacting on the environment and health? Yes, it does. Finishing, decoration, and surface treatment are the operations that give products an interface with the world and the environment but also with the sight and touch of consumers, that define their durability and resistance, and that allow them to be personalised – this is the last frontier of luxury –with unique surfaces, colours, and configurations to realise the desires of customers.
The innovation that has taken place in the surface treatment sector over the last fifty years and has dramatically accelerated over the last fifteen has been transforming these technologies into noble, advanced, hyper-technological, and efficient processes with a smaller environmental footprint than many other stages of any production workflow.
And this interpretation of finishing is not limited to so-called luxury products such as cars, for example. No: a luxury finish also makes a difference for an aluminium profile that will be inserted in a building, for an object that will decorate a house, for a small metal part that will complete a piece of furniture, or for a dental implant that will heal a mouth.
Packaging of all types but, in particular, that intended for the cosmetics, perfumery, and spirits industries is one of the products for which a luxurious finish makes a significant difference because it is an experiential object: it tells a story, it can be touched and admired, it engages our senses and elevates the buying and usage experience.
Packaging finishing technologies are increasingly advanced and sophisticated both in terms of materials (pigments, varnishes, recyclable substrates, materials from the circular economy) and processes (metallisation, coating, decoration, hot stamping, screen printing).
That is why we have decided to dedicate a special section of ipcm® to packaging finishing and decoration on the occasion of our participation in Paris Packaging Week at the end of January and then, next spring, in Cosmopack and Packaging Première.
At the Paris trade fair, we will also debut the new graphic design of ipcm®: fresher, more contemporary, more linear, and with an even more prominent photographic component on its pages.
Richiedi la versione in italiano a info@ipcm.it
As you know, however, ipcm® never limits its content to a single topic but reflects the diversity of the surface treatment world by offering case studies, technical and analysis articles, and breaking news on the advancement of technology and its application in many other sectors. Therefore, you can also read in this issue about new colour trends for the coming years, tools designed to help the industry reduce its carbon footprint by optimising costs and resources, analyses on how to work smart in coating, and many success stories of the application of the latest surface preparation and finishing technologies. Finally, we will also be present with a stand and this issue of ipcm® at the European Coatings Show (Nuremberg, Germany), the world’s most important exhibition for the paint, coatings, and chemicals industry.
1 https://www.vogue.it/magazine/blog-del-direttore/2011/03/5-marzo
BeDimensional’s products have transformative applications in the coatings industry, addressing critical challenges in durability, sustainability and performance.
BeDimensional has inaugurated its stateof-the-art BEFAB production plant in Genoa (Italy) becoming the world’s first facility capable of industrial-scale production of two-dimensional crystals with atomic-level precision. Among its innovative materials, BeDimensional focuses on G-Leaf, a few-layer graphene (FLG) powder, and B-Leaf, a fewlayer hexagonal boron nitride (FLhBN) powder, which are revolutionising high-performance coatings. Indeed, these advanced materials enhance durability, thermal conductivity, and UV resistance in paints and coatings while contributing to sustainable and efficient industrial processes.
G-Leaf (Few-Layer Graphene):
UV protection and aging resistance: used
in advanced paints and coatings, G-Leaf offers superior protection against ultraviolet radiation and environmental degradation.
Thermal activity: G-Leaf-based thermally active paints for construction improve heat management, enhancing energy efficiency in buildings.
Enhanced durability: strengthens plastics and composites used in coatings, providing extended lifecycle benefits.
(Few-Layer Hexagonal Boron Nitride):
Anti-corrosion properties: an exceptional choice for coatings in harsh environments, B-Leaf protects materials from chemical and mechanical wear.
Thermal conductivity: ideal for applications
requiring heat dissipation, ensuring coatings remain functional under extreme conditions.
Luxury aesthetics: as a chemically resistant and visually appealing material, B-Leaf is redefining high-end finishes for fashion and wearable technology.
By integrating these 2D materials into coatings, BeDimensional is setting a new standard for performance and sustainability. Its technologies promise to reduce Europe’s reliance on critical material imports while driving industrial innovation across multiple sectors.
BeDimensional is a producer of Few-Layer Graphene (FLG) and Few-Layer Hexagonal Boron Nitride (FLhBN or FLB). Its mission is to scale up production of these two-dimensional crystals for industrial use at competitive costs, revolutionizing manufacturing with more efficient and sustainable materials.
As a spin-off from the Italian Institute of Technology’s Graphene Labs, BeDimensional leverages deep scientific expertise to drive rapid industrialisation. Its process produces FLG and FLhBN with atomic-level thickness, the highest quality on the market, which can easily be integrated into any material to enhance performance and durability. BeDimensional’s technologies are applied across industries, such as paints and coatings.
For further information: www.bedimensional.com
Byk will unveil new PFAS-free defoamers and other products that ensure excellent performances.
Byk has recently announced that it will participate in the next edition of the European Coatings Show trade fair, that will take place from 25th to 27th March 2025 at the Exhibition Centre in Nuremberg (Germany). Byk will be in hall 3A at booth 124.
The international manufacturer of specialty chemicals will highlight the sustainability of its solutions, the reduction of the time it requires to develop and test its products and the new additives for PFAS-free systems, such as the new BYK-1810, BYK-1811, BYK-1815, BYK-1816 and BYK-1818 defoamers – that ensure excellent performances without
employing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances.
In addition, the company will unveil its fully-automated high throughput screening facility, which performs serial tests with impressive speed and efficiency. As a matter of fact, the ability to test more than twohundred samples in just one day shortens the development cycles, improves the quality of the products and enables customers to be supplied with customised additives even faster.
For further information: www.byk.com
The operation strengthens the company’s strategic role, positioning it for sustainable growth driven by innovation and strong local roots.
Metalcoat, an Italian company operating in both national and international markets with extensive expertise in pre-painted aluminium and steel laminates, has acquired at auction the facility in Ascoli Piceno (Italy) that houses its production lines, which it had taken over in autumn 2023. The site spans more than 110,000 m² within a key industrial area, home to renowned international brands in the pharmaceutical and food sectors. In addition to the existing buildings, which include an office structure and a production facility, the acquisition also comprises a large developable area, opening up new opportunities for growth and expansion. At the same time, Metalcoat has launched an ambitious technological innovation program. Among its key projects is the development of two new coating heads designed to eliminate production downtime, completely erasing times of colour changes. This technological advancement not only reduces operating costs but also minimizes
environmental impact, positioning the company at the forefront of industrial efficiency.
“The acquisition of the production site in Ascoli Piceno is a strategic operation that underscores our commitment to the local area and our desire to continue growing as a group. This project not only allows us to strengthen our local presence but also propels us towards sustainable growth on an international scale,” said Matteo Trombetta Cappellani, President and CEO of Metalcoat.
Metalcoat, together with Alusteel Coating, Alpine Anodizing, and Aleu, is a leading European manufacturer and distributor of pre-painted and anodised aluminium, as well as pre-painted steel. These Italian companies are equipped to meet coating demands for semi-finished products in sectors such as construction, marine, automotive, and general industry.
Located in various parts of Italy, including Bergamo, Ascoli Piceno, Somaglia (Lodi), Cologno al Serio (Bergamo), and Gallarate (Varese), the group’s companies employ approximately 100 people.
For further information: www.metalcoat.it/en
Karen S. Carter will strengthen Dow’s coatings division through enhanced operational efficiency and customer-focused innovation.
Karen S. Carter has been appointed Chief Operating Officer at Dow, assuming strategic oversight of the company’s business segments, including Performance Materials & Coatings. This division, alongside Packaging & Specialty Plastics and Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure, will align under her leadership. Karen S. Carter will focus on enhancing operational performance, accelerating innovation commercialisation, and strengthening customer engagement.
“Karen is a proven leader with more than three decades of experience at Dow delivering strong business results. She has an excellent track record of operating discipline, maintaining close relationships with key partners and customers, and driving innovation across the organization. She has
successfully led our largest business and played critical leadership roles in other essential business and functional teams within Dow, always with a focus on developing and maintaining high-performing teams. As COO, she will work closely with me and our executive team to drive growth and value creation across our operating segments, while continuing to provide innovative and sustainable solutions for our customers,” has stated Jim Fitterling, CEO and Chair of Dow.
Carter’s leadership history includes international experience and her recent role as President of Dow’s Packaging & Specialty Plastics segment, where she drove innovation in circular economy solutions. She brings a strong track record of driving reliability and service improvements, which will likely benefit Dow’s coatings division through enhanced operational efficiency and customer-focused innovation.
For further information: www.corporate.dow.com
As Egypt’s New Administrative Capital (NAC) comes to life, AkzoNobel is supporting Delemar - the region’s largest supplier of facades and architectural products – with its super and hyperdurable Interpon D architectural powder coatings to enhance and protect contemporary projects constructed in the new city.
Since Delemar began its partnership with Interpon in 2017 it has acquired a reputation not only for the quality of its products, and their finish, but crucially their long-term durability to counter Egypt’s many extremes of temperature, high salinity in the air and frequent sandstorms.
Delemar has access to the full range of Interpon D architectural powder coatings, tested against the leading industry specifications such as Qualicoat Class 2 and Class 3, GSB Master and Premium and AAMA 2604 and 2605. It is these superdurable and hyperdurable properties, along with the specific skills provided by Interpon’s Technical Services team, that are helping Delemar to seize the opportunity that the NAC presents.
Abdulrahman Obaid, in charge of powder coatings at Delemar explains: “Our consultant
and engineer customers need a guarantee and the certificate to prove that the powder coatings will protect their buildings over the long term,” he says. “For the superdurable D2000 range, that means up to 25 years, and up to 30 years for the hyperdurable D3000 range. It means not only protecting against corrosion, but also maintaining the integrity and stability of the colour from the damaging effects of harsh sunlight.”
This long-term durability also supports the company’s sustainability agenda, helping to mitigate the need for wasteful touch ups or resprays. And being a powder coating, Interpon is free from Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), meaning it is less harmful to the environment, as well as creating little or no waste in application.
Delemar benefits from AkzoNobel’s ability to
deliver bonded metallic powder coatings to local customers with the opening in 2022 of a new manufacturing facility in Egypt. With AkzoNobel’s special bonding techniques, it can significantly improve the lustre and finish of its premium special effect metallic powder coatings to deliver a uniform metallic finish with even greater colour consistency and performance.
“This has helped transform the products we create for our customers,” Abdul Rahman Obaid says, “and having a partner with a global capability that is able to deliver locally is very important to us.”
Delemar works closely with Interpon’s Research and Development (R&D) and Technical Services Teams in determining the right specification and product for a particular application and making the most out of its horizontal and vertical coating lines: “I have known and worked with Interpon for many years and AkzoNobel has the best products, great people and excellent R&D that gives me confidence we will be working with them well into the future,” he concludes.
Remco Maassen van den Brink, Marketing Director, AkzoNobel Powder Coatings adds:
“We’re delighted to be partnering with Delemar on what is an incredibly exciting opportunity for the business, helping to reinforce its position as an industry leader in sustainability, and protecting both its products and reputation for generations to come.”
For further information: www.akzonobel.com
Gardco released a new series of How-To videos to guide users on the proper operation and best practices for using the testing instruments.
Paul N. Gardner Company - Gardco is an international developer, producer and distributor of high-quality physical test and inspection instruments specifically dedicated the paints and coatings sector. In order to foster the cooperation, spread the industrial knowledge and assist the market, it has recently released a new series of How-To videos.
The new videos are designed to guide users on the proper operation and best practices for using the testing instruments of the company, such as viscosity and density cups, drying time recorders, pencil hardness testers, the Microm Applicator and the Gardco Temper II WFT Gauge. The video tutorials provide demonstrations covering all aspects: from setup to advanced operation techniques. Additionally, each video offers tips and techniques to ensure longterm performance and accuracy.
“Our instructional video library strengthens our commitment to customer success. We recognise that achieving precise results in coatings testing is essential, so we have created these guides to help our customers to maximise the value of their instruments,” has stated James Fusco, the product manager of Paul N. Gardner Company.
Advantages provided by Gardco’s instructional Videos
Easy-to-follow guidance on setting up and operating instruments;
Expert tips to ensure precise results and avoid common pitfalls;
Tips and techniques to ensure long-term accuracy and repeatability;
Suitable for both seasoned professionals refining their skills and new users.
To view Gardco Instructional Videos visit: www.gardco.com/videos
For further information on GARDCO Physical Test Instruments visit: www.gardco.com
In a move that goes against the industry trend, Eurotherm is building a new factory to complete the insourcing project of all its surface treatment plants’ design and production phases, which began in 2011.
Eurotherm SpA (Volpiano, Turin) has been building customised plants since 1958 to meet the coating needs of any company, from small businesses to large industrial groups. It designs, builds, and installs coating plants for the international market by taking care of every phase of the industrial process. With its in-house sheet metal processing, metalworking, and coating departments, Eurotherm is one of the few plant manufacturers in the surface treatment sector to have insourced 80% of its production.
In December, the Turin-based company laid the foundations for a new factory, a production hub that is part of its project to vertically integrate all the stages necessary to build the components of a surface treatment system or machine. “We aim to gather the production of metal parts and sheets and their coating operations in one site to complete our plants’ construction cycle and eliminate the need to move materials from one factory to another,” says Paolo Ghiazza, the CEO of Eurotherm SpA. “Eurotherm 3 will be a 10,000 m2-wide production facility, with 500 kW of photovoltaic panels for self-supply and energy-efficient systems, from state-of-the-art insulation and lighting to underfloor heating and lowenergy machinery. We in the Coral Group, of which Eurotherm is part, have
been working for years with an ambitious goal: to promote the ‘Made in Italy’ label with a new industrial awareness that focuses on environmental and ecological well-being in addition to profit.”
“The new plant will be located a few metres away from Eurotherm 2, which will be partially used as a showroom, and the Eurotherm 1 headquarters, which will also undergo renovation and reorganisation of the office space. The new production area will include a large sheet metal processing department (2 x 6-metre lasers, 4 folding machines, and 1 automatic panelling machine), a metalworking and welding department, a coating department, a department completely dedicated to stainless steel processing, a pre-assembly department, and stock and automatic warehouses, thus making our plant construction cycle 100% vertically integrated – a choice that goes against the trend in the sector, where most companies prefer to act as plant engineers while purchasing components or limiting themselves to micro-production.”
The Eurotherm 3 facility will be operational from 1 September 2025.
For further information: www.eurotherm.eu
In addition to classic car restoration as its core business, Motor Classic operates a state-of-the-art, robot-guided liquid paint shop with WAGNER technology in Hungary. This makes the coating of large quantities more efficient than ever.
The company Motor Classic in Tatabánya, Hungary, began restoring classic cars 25 years ago. The technology-enthusiastic managing director quickly made a name for himself with his company. Motor Classic’s services are also extremely popular with classic car enthusiasts outside Hungary. Over time, word of the high quality quickly spread and they received more and more orders for the surface finishing of various components, starting with mirror housings for automotive suppliers. Although classic cars are still the core business, Motor Classic now also sees itself as a highly professional partner for machine manufacturers, e.g. in the shipbuilding, medical technology, construction, aviation and agricultural sectors. All work steps relating to painting, CNC processing, chrome plating, anodizing and surface treatment are offered in-house. In the last 10 years in particular, the company has invested a large part of its turnover in state-of-the-art surface technologies.
Fully automatic robot coating system for the
Classic cars and many individual customer orders, such as aircraft parts or aluminium wheels, are liquid painted in 4 manual booths. In 2020, in order to be able to handle orders in large quantities, Motor Classic invested in the construction of a new hall with a fully automated liquid coating system and robot technology.
The paint supply, application and mixing technology comes from WAGNER. For the managing director, who is known for his attention to detail and high technical standards, the highest possible quality was crucial when awarding the contract: “Everything this company produces must not be good - it must be perfect.” Today, the ultra-modern automatic system is mainly used to coat exterior mirrors for automotive suppliers in series production.
The system works without a conveyor: after pre-treatment, two transfer robots move the coating frames loaded with components between the 4 coating booths and several drying and cooling units. A total of 4 painting robots are in use. In this way, several workpieces can be processed simultaneously in large quantities. There is high flexibility both in the type of material (metals, plastics) and in the workpiece geometry (small to medium-sized, flat to complex).
Application technology and paint supply from WAGNER
The GA 5000EA electrostatic gun is used to apply the primer to metal workpieces and achieves significant paint savings thanks to the wraparound effect and high application efficiency. When applying primer and base coat (in a total of 8 colours) to the components, the GA 1900 airspray gun is used, which was specially developed for applications in continuous operation and produces an extremely fine atomization with a precise spray pattern. This results in particularly brilliant surfaces. Finally, the TOPFINISH RobotBell 1 high-speed rotation atomizer is used to apply the clear coat. “All application devices coat extremely efficiently and at the same time ensure perfect surface results,” confirms Tibor Nagy, Production Manager at Motor Classic.
In the air-conditioned paint kitchen, high-performance ZIP 52 double diaphragm pumps from WAGNER ensure an efficient paint supply. Depending on customer requirements, water-based and solvent-based 1K and multi-component paints can be processed. Primer and clear coat are pumped from 200-liter drum lid lifting stations, the base coat from 30-liter drum lid lifters. A total of 3 primers, 7 base coats and 2 top coats are available at the same time and enable fast, smooth colour changes. Here too, Motor Classic sets the highest quality standards: continuous monitoring of parameters such as temperature, humidity, viscosity etc. ensures a stable operating environment at all times. The Intellimix 4 is used as mixing system, which is particularly suitable in combination with robot technology to efficiently process frequently changing quantities of paint application.
The manual restoration of classic cars remains at the heart of Motor Classic. At the same time, the investment in the ultra-modern automatic coating system represented a decisive step for the future of the company. Motor Classic was able to successfully establish series coating as a second business segment and raise efficiency and quality for its customers to a new level.
MORE THAN 30 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IN INDUSTRIAL AND ANTI-CORROSION
Consulting for the professional and productive world.
Germedia addresses both the professional and productive sectors. Thanks to its cross-disciplinary expertise, it collaborates not only with professionals such as architects, engineers, and law firms, but also with builders, paint manufacturers, and craftsmen.
Adriano Antonelli
Tecno Supply - Ibix Srl, Lugo (Ravenna) – Italy adriano.antonelli@tecnosupply.com
© Patrik Svedberg
In fairness to the reader, I must admit that, as an Italian, I always try to avoid anglicisms, especially when there is a possibility of using my language effectively. Sometimes, however, and although arid in many respects, I believe that English can appropriately summarise in a few words concepts that, in Italian, would require long phrases: this is also the case with the two adjectives I have chosen for this article’s title. It is no longer time to work head down, or “hard”, because many external factors – some of which will be discussed in more detail below, such as, for example, the pressure on the demand for European industrial products – are causing friction and reducing working hours. It is time to equip ourselves with a compass to navigate in a stormy sea and have a vision that is no longer monthly but at least annual. Working “smart” indeed calls for planning, vision, analysis, verification, the ability to process production steps and be more efficient and green, and so on.
This situation also depends on the socio-economic policies of the EU and the decisions taken in the past. Europe is a manufacturing and export-driven continent. In recent years, it has perhaps lost focus on the domestic market and, at the same time, lost sight of the importance of domestic demand – it is impossible to live on exports alone. This vision has exposed us to many risks, especially today. For example, the government of the Dragon can help its companies with subsidies to make their products more competitive or, in some cases, below-cost on international markets, whereas the Stars and Stripes government can establish customs duties to protect domestic production. The solution for us is certainly not to close ourselves off, although opening up means we are exposed to the decisions of giants that can crush small Europe, a continent that has already accumulated technological backwardness and inefficiency in recent decades.
One lost production segment is undoubtedly the “white goods” one. Industrial clusters producing washing machines, ovens, and refrigerators have been relocated to countries with lower labour costs. However, the sector that is most critical today, also affecting many other industries, is the automotive one. In this case, the law that allowed no freedom in technology to pursue the goal of lowering emissions has devastated the industrial fabric and created much confusion. Announcing a deadline for the technological switch from endothermic to electric engines without providing for the necessary infrastructure or investigating the state of the art and the sourcing of raw materials, could mean we will have to entirely rely on aggressive Chinese production, which, however, we must credit for having been able to develop this technology before us.
Having lived through years of deflation by importing cheap products from the Far East has benefited the citizen-consumer, but the citizenworker is now in dire straits due to the onset of festering industrial desertification. For this reason, authoritative economic newspapers have started counting the days since February 2023, when the first “minus” signs were registered next to Italian industrial production figures, which afterwards came in uninterrupted succession: at the moment, there are 688 of them1. Until now, the Italian system has managed to hold up thanks to tourism and the tertiary sector, but with its manufacturing vocation, this country cannot do without industry. Making up for lost time and becoming
1 Data as at 20 December 2024. https://www.ilsole24ore.com/art/il-contatore-crisi-produzione-industriale-calo-febbraio-2023-AGN9bXrB
competitive again must be the priorities. The sectors that are expected to recover are the automotive and the textiles and clothing ones, which have suffered a major setback. The wood furniture industry, which started well at the beginning of 2024, also veered sharply into negative territory during the year.
Let us look at some numbers to get an overview: China exported nearly $3.4 trillion of goods, surpassing the US economy by $1.4 trillion. Germany increased its exports by 1% despite its shrinking economy. Italy is the second largest exporting economy in Europe after Germany, which is also its largest customer of semi-finished industrial goods2
This article gives us the opportunity to take a closer look at what can be done in the area we are most interested in, that of surface treatments. How to reduce costs, increase profits, and be sustainable? These are the crucial points to consider. Sustainability has become a pillar not only for environmental protection, which might be a more or less significant issue for each of us, but also for legal compliance. First of all, let me emphasise that this topic has become particularly pressing and heartfelt by Italian legislators since it has become a constitutional issue. Below are the two articles of the Constitution of the Italian Republic that refer to environmental protection and respect:
2 https://www.idealista.it/news/finanza/economia/2024/12/02/184625-i-principali-paesi-esportatori-nel-mondo#:~:text=La%20Cina%20ha%20esportato%20beni,registrato%20un%20crescente%20deficit%20commerciale.
and
Article 9: The Republic shall promote the development of culture and scientific and technical research. It protects the landscape and the historical and artistic heritage of the nation. It protects the environment, biodiversity, and ecosystems, also in the interest of future generations. State law regulates the ways and forms of animal protection.
Article 41: Private economic initiative is free. It cannot take place in conflict with social utility or when damaging safety, freedom, human dignity, health, and the environment. The law provides appropriate programs and controls so that public and private economic activities can be directed and coordinated for social and environmental purposes. Multinationals and corporations may also verify their suppliers’ sustainability though specific questionnaires.
Is the coating production process being run sustainable? Is it possible to calculate efficiency and emission rates? Are there spreadsheets available to demonstrate and formalise these figures? HangOn and Ibix can help achieve this. In order not to digress into a long-winded answer, let me start by describing our range of products and applications that can help immediately reduce time, emissions, and costs.
I will begin with the case of parts that are to be masked and, therefore, not coated so that they can be easily assembled with semi-components. In addition to conical plugs and caps, many other solutions can be applied to a process depending on the needs. The GDF plug, for example, allows masking a nut at both ends in a single operation (fig. 1). If, on the other hand, the nut must be blind and therefore welded to a plate, our Qbolt is equipped with a screw to allow screwing the masking device, while the silicone cover allows easy cleaning. The GAP caps, like the GVM ones, are ventilated masking tools, i.e. they allow air to escape without dust and water entering during pre-treatment cycles (figs. 2 and 3).
In addition to moulded products that can be made to specific designs, various types of silicone masking devices can be assembled (figs. 4, 5, and 6). The materials that can be used are as follows (fig. 7):
Solid silicone from 1 to 6 mm: it has the same characteristics as the silicone used in plugs and caps for coating plants. It comes in sheets that can be die-cut to measure. These can be glued on top of each other to increase thickness, and pull handles can be applied to them (fig. 8).
Silicone foam from 2 to 20 mm: it looks like a sponge. Thanks to its silicone nature, it can withstand high temperatures and is also cleanable. Its softness allows inserting the caps easily and provides an efficient grip. It can be glued to solid silicone when required.
Magnetic silicone from 1 to 2 mm: it has a magnetic power that enables it to stick to ferrous material, thus eliminating the need for disposable taping systems. It withstands temperatures up to 250 °C and can be easily cleaned and glued to the above materials.
MDF: it has some limits compared with the previous materials. It can be applied before mechanical pre-treatment but not before chemical pretreatment because it would soak up water. It is less flexible and, therefore,
more difficult to clean. On the other hand, however, it is more economical and withstands temperatures up to 200 °C, which makes it also suitable for powder coating applications (figs. 9 to 13).
Cork from 2 to 25 mm: compressed cork for liquid coating applications. It withstands temperatures up to 150 °C and can be glued to other materials. It is clearly inexpensive.
Magnets can be added to these types of devices to provide more stability and a better grip on parts (fig. 14). The wide range of materials available makes it possible to achieve the necessary masking results while considering the time and method requirements.
The choice of the masking solution depends on the workpiece to be protected, including acceptable tolerances for protections, hanging process, ease of masking, storage, durability, available budget, cleaning process, and so on.
Proper positioning of masking devices means that there are no errors or uncovered surfaces. The higher initial investment compared with the low cost of tape is fully recovered, if one also considers the device’s ease of removal at the end of the process. That also minimises potential interpretation errors by the operator, who might mask the wrong surface areas. The creation of a masking kit, especially when a part has several parts to be masked, can prove an efficient solution. The advantage of these masking devices, however, lies mainly in quantity. Since there are no minimum required amounts, we can produce exactly the number of items needed by each customer. Furthermore, if the technical department changes the dimensions of the part to be masked, a new device can be produced without fixed costs being incurred, whereas if some products are damaged or worn, they can be replaced at no extra cost.
We have repeatedly emphasised the importance of hanging density. Our new HQW D system is a 2 mm-diameter tree-shaped frame with fixed hanging points. The range is vast so every customer can choose its ideal pitch. To have a compact frame (also in terms of packaging, like a box of hooks, for example), the top hanging must be done with a separate hook. This frame is designed to be used when a sudden need arises and to avoid hanging hook after hook. This is key because “chain” hanging results in longer hanging times and significantly fewer pieces than the HQW D solution. At HangOn website you can find some spreadsheets to test the savings you can achieve by entering your data but also videos that give you an idea of how this application works3. The cost per hanging point is similar to that of a single hook (the total is less than 1 Euro), so the issue of regeneration does not arise.
3 An in-depth interview will be published in the next issue of ipcm® in which Andreas Orre, Sales Manager at HangOn, will explain how this spreadsheet works.
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The new HQW S system is complete with an upper hook oriented at 0 and 90° (fig. 15), and its hooks have a variable distance. This economical frame avoids improvised hanging with hooks, which can lead to a loss of density and efficiency. The 2 mm-diameter hook and the reinforcement along the frame’s entire length guarantee hanging stability. The HQL bar is produced fully automatically, reducing costs and eliminating the need for regeneration (fig. 16). Hooks with a diameter of 1 mm can be inserted into it on both sides to hang the workpieces symmetrically. For example, the 800x33 HQL bars accommodate 46 hooks over a length of 800 mm. These can be accommodated into the HCF modular, universal system, which enables bars to be inserted according to the length of workpieces. Moreover, the HQL G6 caps guarantee perfect electrostatics. 1.5 mm-hook bars made of spring steel are also available for small, heavy parts. Different configurations are available in the range, including the triple-bend one, which provides more secure anchoring for light workpieces that could be lifted into the air during pre-treatment. HQL bars for singlesided hanging are also available, in case it is necessary to hang parts only on one side and thus avoid any shading effects and other issues. A more robust version of the HQL bar is the HQC one (fig. 17). It accommodates hooks with a diameter of 1.5 mm, but only on one side. Its coupling allows hooks to be inserted into a central 10 mm-diameter one. The R 58 bar holder enables the bar to be stable and easily removed, also thanks to the BH G 20 cap. The resulting frame is economical and flexible, as it is also possible to avoid filling all the levels. The hooks have a pitch of 50, 75, or 100 mm. This bar type was also designed to avoid using individual hooks, dramatically reducing the operators’ hanging time. Indeed, the availability of a ready-to-use frame eliminates the need to handle single hooks. In addition, it allows for easy off-line pre-hanging. Another advantage is that it can be used for multiple hanging configurations.
This bar’s production technology makes its cost similar to an individual hook’s. Therefore, there is no extra cost for purchasing frames rather than standard hooks. Finally, to make this frame even more versatile, a new metal adapter was launched that also allows H11B bars to be inserted. This way, using the same central hook, a bar can be accommodated that allows hooks up to 4 mm in diameter to be inserted, thus achieving horizontal flexibility.
The flexibility of the HCF universal frame allows using interchangeable bars, and in some cases, bars with accessories that can be inserted depending on the workpiece to be hung. This leads to a significant reduction in the number of frames required for the different workpieces processed, in the space needed for storage, and in the possible handling problems. The universal frame can also be used for cataphoresis operations: the structure remains
the same, but the bars and accessories are changed to guarantee maximum conductivity. Already welded bars with universal hooks are available in the range, allowing for minimal contact. For greater flexibility, we also offer hook holders where universal accessories and, at the top, protective caps can be inserted.
Thanks to our quality department, all HangOn products are tested to ensure they meet customer needs and expectations.
Speaking of quality, I would also like to mention some measuring instruments aimed at detecting the thicknesses deposited on parts (figs. 18 and 19).
Let us take a detailed look at the characteristics of QNix thickness gauges:
no calibration: calibration is not necessary (although it is possible to carry it out if specifically required); all instruments are supplied with a calibration certificate.
reliability and robustness: our proven technology enables the probes with a built-in ruby to perform millions of measurements precisely and accurately; rigorous quality testing guarantees the universal use of Tecno Supply - Ibix instruments worldwide, and the ruby ensures the probe and the entire instrument are sturdy.
3-year warranty.
Our already wide range has been enriched by two new instruments: QNix 9500 and QNix 5500 (fig. 20). After three years of development, these were launched with the aim of providing the market with state-of-the-art measuring tools that can meet different needs in several segments at the same time. They stand out for robustness and ease-of-use characteristics unmatched in the past, but they also feature the same quality, versatility, and precision as all our products.
By TIGER Coatings GmbH & Co. KG Wels, Austria
In the world of design and architecture, colour trends play a crucial role in anticipating and defining the aesthetics of each season. For 2025, TIGER Coatings’ powder coatings evolve further, drawing inspiration from sophisticated and innovative palettes that reflect the growing focus on sustainability, durability, and natural beauty.
The variety of colours and surface textures of gemstones stand for exclusivity, durability and aesthetic sophistication. TIGER has taken inspiration from this and based its powder coating Trend Colours for the 2025 season on these wonders of nature.
The unique beauty of colourful gemstones – born from the depths of the mountain, shaped by pressure and revealed by light. Their vibrant colour palette symbolizes exclusivity, durability and an astounding variety of hues, textures, and degrees of brilliance. Each uncut mineral is already invaluable and is brought to perfection through professional refinement. TIGER has taken the aesthetics and resilience of minerals as a model and built a bridge to powder coating. The elegance and individuality of the six selected finishes make surfaces shine like precious gemstones and are in no way inferior to them in terms of individuality, weather resistance and resilience.
Manufactured in façade quality, TIGER Drylac® Trend Colours 2025 are the ideal choice for coating architectural objects, garden furniture, outdoor elements, machine housings, sports equipment, and store fitting
applications. They impress with their elegant appearance and at the same time offer reliable protection against corrosion and scratches.
From mystical dark violet and light turquoise to radiant yellow and bright red: the powder coating trend colours for the 2025 season are impressive both indoors and outdoors.
Inspired by the brilliance of blue topaz, Dusk Horizon sets building structures and outdoor elements apart from classic colour tones and gives them a long-lasting elegance that conveys openness and lightness.
The façade-quality finish is suitable for coating prestigious building envelopes and gives hotels, office buildings or exclusive residential complexes an inviting look that is underlined by exceptional resistance. This ensures that the surface quality and colour brilliance are maintained even under challenging weather conditions.
Aqua Marine combines timeless elegance with functionality and versatility. In working environments – especially in combination with wood or metal – the colour promotes concentration, while in living spaces it provides relaxation. On outdoor products such as garden furniture or outdoor lamps, the trendy colour sets stylish, maritime accents and reliably protects against corrosion, UV radiation and other environmental influences. Aqua Marine protects sports equipment from abrasion and rust and gives products an energizing effect – ideal for bicycles, fitness studios and home gyms.
Metallic Amber is more than just a finish – it is an expression of elegance and character. Inspired by the shimmering aura of smoky quartz, this shade finds its perfect expression through powder coating.
The earthy trend colour lends façades a subtle yet striking aesthetic. Thanks to the highly weather-resistant formula, the beauty of the surface is retained for years. In outdoor areas that have to meet both functional and aesthetic requirements, Metallic Amber sets stylish accents; in the area of product design, it combines robustness and scratch resistance with an exquisite appearance.
Arctic Steel combines the fascinating play of light of blue quartz with the resistance of modern powder coating technology. The bluishsilver hue gives surfaces a metallic shimmer that can be used in a variety of ways – from contemporary architectural projects to sophisticated design applications.
The finish is perfect for the design of modern building projects, especially commercial and residential buildings. The elegant colour scheme is designed for minimalist, timeless aesthetics and harmonizes perfectly with glass, steel and concrete. TIGER Drylac® Arctic Steel resists UV radiation, weathering and temperature fluctuations – also ideal for finishing window frames or barrel end cladding.
Inspired by the beauty of ruby, Ruby Flame embodies a symbiosis of energy and passion. The colour brings surfaces to life and is preferred in environments that are intended to radiate dynamism and exclusivity.
Ruby Flame brings a luxurious touch to modern living spaces. Especially in combination with dark woods such as walnut or mahogany and with velvet fabrics, this colour becomes the focal point of any room. The trend colour unfolds its full radiance in the area of sports and fitness equipment. Whether weight benches, exercise bikes or treadmill cladding: the rich shade of red gets to the heart of sporty dynamism.
Tangerine Yellow, inspired by the blazing elegance of fire opal, impresses with a vibrant mixture of bright yellow and a hint of orange and creates exciting contrasts in combination with aluminium or stainless steel – perfect for use in industrial and outdoor furniture design as well as on sports equipment. In industrial design, the colour combines functionality with attractive design. The finish is particularly suitable for machine housings, tools or safety equipment where both visibility and a dynamic look play a role. On bicycles or fitness equipment, the weatherproof finish emphasizes the sporty character and highlights black details and glossy surfaces.
• > 90% WATER RECYCLING
• REDUCTION OF DISPOSAL COSTS
• ZERO LIQUID DISCHARGE
• ZERO EMISSIONS
• EASY MAINTENANCE
• FULLY AUTOMATIC
Carina Lachnit Dürr Systems AG - Bietigheim-Bissingen, Germany carina.lachnit@durr.com
Dürr presents its latest innovation in simultaneous two-sided coating technology set to revolutionize the battery manufacturing industry. The new GigaCoater™, designed for battery cell OEMs, combines wider substrate capabilities with faster coating speeds, promising significant manufacturing cost reductions while maintaining automotive-grade quality across widths up to 1,200 mm.
Since 2006, Dürr has led the way in simultaneous two-sided coating technology for battery electrode production, constantly refining and enhancing its offerings.This latest iteration, developed through
substantial research and development investment, showcases Dürr’s commitment to providing cutting-edge solutions that drive efficiency and cost-effectiveness in manufacturing.
The GigaCoater™ features a straight-path product flow with two coating stations combined in a single location, complemented by a non-contact flotation drying system. This streamlined configuration results in a more compact manufacturing footprint, reduces energy consumption, and eliminates edge curl after drying. The innovative coating process uses a slot-die against a backing roll, followed by a tensioned-web-over-slot-die (TWOSD), enabling simultaneous two-sided coating of the foil in a single pass. The air flotation dryer ensures even, non-contact drying on both sides, further improving electrode quality.
The simplified layout of the GigaCoater™ results in substantial operational cost savings. These savings come from reduced energy consumption thanks to the single-dryer system, reduced coil handling, fewer personnel needs thanks to the one-level design, lower material waste, and a smaller space requirement.
Together, these efficiencies offer enormous annual savings. In addition to cost savings, the GigaCoater™ enhances product quality by eliminating edge curl, ensuring uniform drying on both sides, and improving top-to-bottom alignment.
With the GigaCoater™, Dürr expands its portfolio of simultaneous twosided coating machines, which previously consisted of the PilotCoater and ProCoater. The PilotCoater which can handle foils up to 350 mm with coating speeds of up to 10 meters/minute, making it ideal for production, as well as ongoing process and product development (Table 1). The ProCoater, a larger scale coating line, accommodates web widths from 350 to 700 mm and coating speeds up to 50 m/min, supporting large-scale lithiumion battery production. Both products are already in use by leading battery manufacturers worldwide.
Evonik Coating Additives at the
We push the boundaries of performance and eco-compatibility for coatings and inks. Meet us in Hall 3C, booth 426, and learn how “ WE GO BEYOND TO FORMULATE THE FUTURE” – for example with our unique biosurfactants, additives that provide thermal insulation for industrial uses and EV battery housings or co-binders that enhance the circularity of plastic packaging.
Curious about our product innovations?
Simultaneous two-sided
Coating side A
Coating
Table 1: Simultaneous two-sided coating machines product family.
Ilaria Paolomelo ipcm®
CAT Automation, a company specialising in industrial coating process management, stands out for its ability to tackle the most complex challenges through customised and innovative solutions. Founded in 2010, it combines a flexible approach with consolidated experience to act as a strategic partner for companies operating in the industrial coating sector.
The industrial automation sector is undergoing a profound transformation while continuing to represent a milestone in global manufacturing. According to the World Robotics - Industrial Robots 2024 report1, the number of industrial robots installed worldwide decreased slightly in 2023, with a decline in China for the first time
1 https://ifr.org/wr-industrial-robots/
since 2009. However, outside Asia, markets such as Europe and North America experienced growth in terms of installed robots, mainly driven by the automotive sector, which remains at the centre of innovation and technology adoption. There are many reasons behind this development: automation makes production more efficient and consistent, but it also increases flexibility and repeatability and makes up for the shortage of skilled labour.
In 2023, the global economy grew by 3.1 % (OECD), but the manufacturing sector suffered from high energy costs, rising interest rates, inflation, and geopolitical instability. Nevertheless, the completion of postponed projects and nearshoring drove an increase in automation in Europe, which saw the installation of 92,393 units, up 9% year-on-year. Looking to the future, automation is set to grow thanks to advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, redefining the boundaries of possible applications. In this context, companies such as CAT Automation (Val della Torre, Turin, Italy) can present themselves as strategic partners to respond to current market challenges. With a proven track record in managing complete
surface treatment processes, CAT is a genuine problem solver. Thanks to its long-standing experience in the sector and in-depth understanding of industrial coating and automation combined with specific knowledge of certain production processes, it can tackle and solve a variety of paint application problems.
In an ever-changing industrial context characterised by increasing demands for customisation, sustainability, and innovation, businesses operating as problem solvers are a key reference point. They do not just offer standardised solutions but design tailor-made interventions to specifically address customer needs, turning challenges into opportunities for improvement, cost reduction, and performance optimisation. This approach is particularly crucial in technical and complex fields such as industrial coating, calling for multidisciplinary skills and in-depth knowledge of production processes. Companies capable of addressing the peculiarities of each field of application and solving critical issues in the coating cycle can position themselves as strategic partners, helping raise production standards and generate long-term value. One of the most critical challenges is making automatic coating lines more flexible. “In the past, automatic plants were designed for the high-volume coating of components identical in shape, geometry, and size. Today, however, there is a different trend: the future requires compact and adaptable systems, capable of handling smaller batches without sacrificing quality.” Alongside production flexibility, Sandro Conti emphasises the importance of energy sustainability and automation: “Today’s market demands plants that limit energy consumption while ensuring precision and repeatability through articulated robots. Our vision is focussed on Industry 5.0, and we are already working to optimise its related activities and fully meet the new requirements.”
To meet the highest quality standards required by the market, CAT Automation has also designed a number of solutions that combine efficiency and technological innovation. In this sense, one of the most relevant projects launched in 2024 and set to continue in the coming months is designing integrated packages of products and technologies to support companies in improving their processes and optimising resources. “These solutions are designed to reduce the waste of compressed air and paint products and recover solvents, providing a quick return on investment and ensuring significant savings in production. With these optimisation measures, CAT aims to enable its customers to improve their current processes’ efficiency and plan future investments with greater peace of mind.”
One of the latest solutions developed by the Turin-based company aims to reduce the energy expenditure of paint management units, which use pneumatic agitators powered by compressors to continuously produce compressed air, resulting in high energy consumption. “To solve this problem, we have developed Plug and Play packages ensuring smart agitator management. These systems are adaptable to both pneumatic and electric versions and can be integrated into existing coating plants without compromising the entire process while optimising specific operational steps,” explains Ivan Conti. “We also offer dedicated solutions for the general industry, including for paint recovery and reduced solvent consumption in the cleaning of feeding and circulation pumps.”
CAT Lab provides indispensable support in both experimenting with new technologies and validating solutions to guarantee the quality of the company’s offer. It is an environment where technology and research come together to offer increasingly high-performance solutions. “We
have set up our own coating booth with all the necessary equipment,” illustrates Ivan Conti, the owner of CAT, “including an articulated robot with automatic and electrostatic guns, high-speed bells, a paint management unit, and equipment that can meet the different market demands.” The booth is enclosed, pressurised, and heated to maintain ideal conditions for any application process. Various curing systems complete the plant, including infrared lamps, a UV tunnel, and convection ovens for both larger and smaller parts, making it possible to simulate any application cycle of solvent- and water-based products, UV coatings, high-solid products with 100% dry residue, and medium- and high-viscosity coatings.
“In addition, CAT is now finalising a mixing system with two-component positive displacement pumps and management software for the various parameters involved in stabilising the application process. Finally, by mid2025, it aims to integrate its CAT Lab with a pigging station devoted to the general industry for efficiently cleaning and recovering paint from pipes and circulators during colour change phases.”
Every detail is under control, from application parameters such as flow rate, spray fan, and bell speed to product management. “Our laboratory is a real strength for our company as it enables us to develop a process, simulate it in our booth, and test its effectiveness before offering it to the market. We wanted to create a space that was not only a test lab but also an actual technological training ground. In addition to validating processes, we can organise learning and refresher courses, simulations, and off-line programming projects without interfering with our customers’ production lines,” Sandro Conti says.
CAT Automation was founded in 2010 in Val della Torre, in the province of Turin, merging different skills and experiences in the surface treatment sector. Since the beginning, it has combined tradition and innovation thanks to a balanced team: on the one hand, professionals with decades of experience who have lived through the evolution of automatic coating, and on the other hand, young talents with an eye on the future and technological innovation. That has enabled CAT to establish itself in the market as a reliable and proactive partner, capable of designing and managing an entire process from fluid supply to robot programming. Such evolution, always focusing on surface treatments, has prompted CAT to also offer handling solutions for line loading/unloading and other process steps such as sealing, glueing, and other surface preparation pretreatments.
A distinguishing feature of this company is its strategic choice to insource all core competencies: design, software development, and process management are handled in-house, ensuring total control over critical phases and maximum quality.
From a technological and commercial perspective, the company positions itself as an equipment distributor and integrator, collaborating with leading brands such as Binks, DeVilbiss, and Graco and maintaining direct relationships with other coating industry leaders such as Sames and Dürr. This partnership network provides CAT with in-depth knowledge of the market and the available technologies, enabling it to devise solutions that combine efficiency, quality, and innovation to tackle even the most complex challenges.
Monica Fumagalli ipcm®
Bringing chemical know-how for coating management to a factory with a history of craftsmanship deeply ingrained in mechanical processes was the challenge met by Lodi Spa. This company, which has been manufacturing components for the ACE sector since 1958, installed its first liquid coating plant in 2014, and it recently upgraded its entire surface treatment department with a new fully automatic shot blasting plant supplied by OMSG and a cataphoresis and powder coating line designed and installed by Trasmetal in collaboration with Wagner.
In Italy, a Country at that time with an underdeveloped industry compared to other European nations and still firmly tied to agriculture, the 1950s saw an almost unparalleled technological and economic development known as the “Italian economic miracle” or “Italian economic boom”. The statistics of the time are impressive: in the 1950s and 1960s, the gross domestic product rose at an average of 6% per year, never falling below 4.5%. The increase in hourly productivity in the textile and food industries was 4-5%, but in the chemical, automotive, and steel sectors, it ranged between 8.5% and 11%. Between 1953 and 1962, the profit margin in the textile-food industry increased by 10%. The population’s standard of living improved as a result: in 1958, Italians with a television set were 1 in 6; in 1965, they were 5 in 10. Investments grew at an annual average of 9.2%, industrial activity by 9.5%, and the car market by 17.8%.1
Driven by post-war enthusiasm, reconstruction was characterised by the presence of large industrial groups, mainly from the automotive sector, such as FIAT and Pirelli, the petrochemical industry, such as Montecatini, and the construction field due to the residential development resulting from the growth of large factories in urban centres.
1 http://www.impresaoggi.com/it/stampa.asp?cacod=23
During this period, many entrepreneurs founded companies that are now flagship brands of “Made in Italy”. Luigi Lodi laid the foundations of his business in 1958. A “man of the turn of the century”, he grew up professionally in the forging department of tractor factory Landini, to which the history of Lodi Spa, specialising in the construction of components for agricultural machinery, tractors, earth-moving machinery, and material handling seems to be inextricably linked. The first steps of this company, which today boasts 220 employees and a turnover of EUR 51 million (2023 data), began in Fabbrico (Reggio Emilia, Italy) in a modest workshop where Luigi Lodi had transferred the tools of his blacksmith’s trade to serve first private individuals, building fences, gates, and railings, and then firms, producing its first components for tractors. Its first customer was Landini itself, located a few metres from that original workshop.
“Innovation through tradition”
“Innovation through tradition” is the slogan of Lodi Spa, and when we entered the gates to its 32,000 m2 of floor space with machines operating in multiple shifts, the result of its vocation for automation, we could
Opening photo - Lodi Spa has been manufacturing components for agricultural machinery, tractors, earth-moving machinery, and material handling since 1958.
The headquarters of Lodi Spa in Fabbrico (Reggio Emilia, Italy).
In 2000, Lodi revolutionised the tractor mudguard system by patenting a rotating mudguard support.
perceive its meaning: we were light years away – chronologically but also technologically – from the mechanical workshop from which Luigi Lodi developed his business, but we could feel that his entrepreneurial spirit and courage still pervade the walls of his factory. In fact, always in the name of innovation, his heirs have initiated the automation of the welding department when they purchased the company’s first robot, an Ernest One model, in 1986 and created two new departments for quality control and customer drawing engineering development.
Claudio Lodi, Luigi’s grandson and the current CEO of Lodi Spa, recalls: “My grandfather’s company had revolutionised the way pedal production was done as early as 1973 thanks to his spirit of initiative. Initially, this component was manufactured as a single piece through a cast iron casting process, but there were numerous cases of breakage occurring during assembly. The then Lodi Luigi & Figli presented an alternative solution that would prove to be a winner: a product consisting of the assembly of multiple components made in-house and then welded together. That enabled us to move away from the single-client production approach that had characterised the business up to that time, thus expanding our customer portfolio by starting to supply market leaders such as the then SAME Tractors (Treviglio, Bergamo, Italy), Lamborghini, and Goldoni, to name but a few, and beginning to gradually standardise our workflow.”
In 1978, the company changed its production strategy, moving from manufacturing simple components to actual product families: pedals, pedal kits, steering tubes, and shafts. “However, it was in 2000 that the real revolution took place with which we changed the market,” Claudio Lodi continues. “Lodi revolutionised the tractor mudguard system by patenting a rotating mudguard support that allows the wheel to be steered without the mudguard touching the tractor body. With this innovation, we entered the global market and increased our turnover by 35%.”
The international distribution of Lodi’s components, which today accounts for 65% of its entire production, has entailed adapting its machining processes to the standards set by the most important multinationals. Today, the main sectors of reference are ACE and material handling. Among the clients in these sectors, Lodi Spa counts names such as John Deere, Toyota, CNH, Agco, Kubota, JCB, and Claas.
“Such an adjustment has meant investing in new equipment in our metalworking department, specialising in cold shearing and welding, and above all, in our surface treatment one. In 2018, we decided to transition from liquid to powder coating and turned to Trasmetal, a company based in Milan and a leader in the coating plant manufacturing sector since 1953, to design and install a new cataphoresis + powder coating line. In September 2023, we completed the installation of a new shot blasting
system by working with our long-standing supplier OMSG, bringing our previous investment full circle.”
Lodi Spa’s winning combination
In 2013, Lodi acquired the factory of the contractor it used to entrust with the liquid coating of its products, also adding a cataphoresis plant. “That acquisition,” Claudio Lodi confirms, “gave us full control of our entire production process. However, while we had already gained knowledge on shot blasting since we had been carrying it out in our plant for some time, it was not easy for us, as a mechanics-oriented company, to start acquiring the chemical skills necessary to handle cataphoresis and coating. However, we had once again proof of the worth of our employees, who were able to adapt to a new company structure based on the presence of individual specialised managers for each treatment phase; we also appointed different shift leaders to support the coating manager and help solve any problems that may arise.
“As Tier 1 suppliers, we have to meet high perfection requirements no longer only in terms of function but increasingly also of aesthetics: the peculiarity of our products is that they are assembled at the end of the line, that is, after all the other components of the tractor, from the cab to the wheels, have been fitted. Any imperfection would, therefore, stop the very last manufacturing step: this is why our attention to surface treatments has risen and why the packaging of our products has also become increasingly important, so that the packaging would already be a completed product ready to be shipped to the customer.”
Lodi Spa’s coating department now consists of an automatic pass-through shot blasting system and a post-shot blasting blow-off station built by OMSGOfficine Meccaniche San Giorgio Spa (Villa Cortese, Milan, Italy) linked to an elevated cataphoresis + powder coating line installed by Trasmetal (Milan) via a six-axes robot. In addition to the robot, which transfers the parts from the handling ring’s chain of the shot blasting machine to the monorail conveyor
P25 column standard or customizable system to hang from the smallest parts to heavy 6-metre long bars
The shot blasting machine has 12 turbines featuring a direct drive motor with a power of 7.5 kW each.
The shot blasting plant’s bands as some workpieces leave the tunnel.
The robotised transfer system supplied by Trasmetal.
of the cataphoresis and painting plant, Trasmetal’s project included a cleaning station located before the chemical pre-treatment tunnel, a cataphoresis tank, a polymerisation oven, a secondary unloading area located on the ground floor preceding the powder coating booth with a Wagner SuperCenter EVO powder centre, a curing oven, and a final unloading area.
100% of the metalwork produced in Lodi Spa is coated with either two coats (cataphoresis + powder) or cataphoresis only. “Each product is connected to the management software (Nicim): we manage the products based on the correspondence between the product code and the order,” explains Gabriele Losi, the coating manager. “The line’s starting point – the heart of the whole process – is the shot blasting plant’s loading area, where an operator can either load the material received from the welding department (already positioned on the machine’s cluster hanging system) or check the management PLC for the tab listing the type of hook to be used and the number of workpieces to be hung per load bar if it is material to be retrieved from the warehouse
(‘first phase’ material). Thanks to this coating management software program interfaced with all the devices of the line, each ‘gear’ of the system is perfectly coordinated with the next. It also provides useful information to speed up the material’s preparation times (e.g. in the secondary unloading area, the operator can check not only the coating recipe but also the necessary masking operations and the packaging type, so that the container box can be prepared well in advance of the end of the cycle) and signals the need for operator intervention through acoustic and visual alarms when the operation carried out on the part does not correspond to the pre-set parameters. The cycle has an average duration of 6 and a half hours from the loading of the shot blasting plant to the final unloading operation, whether the parts have only undergone cataphoresis or powder application as well.” Once unloaded, the components can follow two routes: they may return to the production department for further processing and final assembly or be taken directly to the shipping department to be sent to the customer’s assembly line".
“The TUNNELBLAST 1015/12 SP mechanical pre-treatment system we supplied to Lodi Spa,” says Roberto Racchini from Racchini Srl, OMSG’s
and Ervin’s sales agent, “is a tunnel-type plant automatically managed through its control PLC according to the parts’ codes, with a size of 1,000 x 1,500 mm. The shot blasting operation is carried out by means of 12 7.5-kW single-disc turbines, which project the metal abrasive over the entire surface of the workpiece.”
The system is designed to meet consistent roughness requirements thanks to speed parameters set according to the parts’ characteristics.
“We analysed in detail the type of abrasive best suited to the numerous undercuts of Lodi’s components, reducing its grain size and increasing its quantity: thanks to the collaboration with grit manufacturer Ervin, we carried out several tests and checked the cleanliness and roughness degrees obtained each time. The final solution was identified in a mix of two different abrasives, which Ervin supplies to Lodi in ready-to-use bags.
“However, the biggest challenge was identifying the exact position for the parts’ transfer from the OMSG shot blasting machine’s ring microchain to the handling robot. Together with Lodi Spa’s and Trasmetal’s teams, we analysed the characteristics of the load bars, which have a maximum load capacity of 150 kg, to ensure the transfer operations were as streamlined as possible.” Trasmetal project manager Carlo Zucchetti
confirms: “As the two adjacent plants run at different speeds, the robot’s function is precisely to adapt to the timing of both in order to pick up a load bar and transfer it so that the cycle can continue properly.” Racchini adds: “This required a considerable team effort, which made it possible to find the best solution to eliminate manual loading and unloading operations as the customer had requested and to comply with the high quality requirements that characterise Lodi’s product. We managed to guarantee high surface performance right from the mechanical pretreatment phase.”
A blow-off station was integrated into the outlet chamber of the shot blasting machine to eliminate any abrasive residue that might remain in the most hidden areas of the workpieces and could compromise subsequent processing. “The blow-off station has an abrasive recovery system ensuring the grit is fed back into the process. This takes place fully above-ground – a requirement that called for careful assessment of the hall’s height and adaptation of our plant’s structure.”
A further demonstration of the attention that Lodi Spa pays to the quality of the finishing process was the decision to place a water cleaning station provided by Trasmetal after the shot blasting machine and before the cataphoresis pre-treatment tunnel.
“In this way,” Losi emphasises, “we can be sure that no particulate residue can contaminate the pre-treatment tanks, which include a degreasing stage, a cleaning stage, and the application of a nanotechnology product by atomisation.”
With the OMSG shot blasting machine used previously, the parts were loaded onto a hoist with 6 load bars that rotated inside the chamber, equipped with 4 turbines. “The parts positioned on the outside the cluster were shot blasted perfectly, but the same could not be said of those on the inside,” Losi explains, “as they remained hidden during the shot blasting phase. As a result, they had calamine residues that did not conform to our internal and customers’ specifications. We no longer run this risk thanks to the 12 turbines installed in the chamber and the pass-through process. The previous control panel was also elementary, and errors were not always reported correctly. Now, on the other hand, we can manage the entire programme from the control PLC, with the possibility of intervening manually if necessary and with any errors well signalled by alarms. Finally, we have also noticed a considerable improvement in the daily work of our operators. In the past, they had to hang the parts inside the chamber making sure that no empty space was left; now, the feeding of the workpieces is managed by software to facilitate the hanging operation as much as possible.”
Carlo Zucchetti explains the peculiarity of the cataphoresis plant: “As with any cataphoresis system supplied by Trasmetal, its distinctive feature is that it is equipped with vertical recirculation pumps, which have two benefits: maintenance and energy. With the pumps positioned this way, there is no longer any need for seals flushing, which is a considerable advantage for the customer.” Another design
feature of the new line that Lodi Spa particularly appreciated was the simple and user-friendly interface of the management software program. As Zucchetti illustrates, “Trasmetal builds this software package in-house and structures it with a modular architecture that facilitates its interconnection with all other factory IT systems. The system allows for remote diagnostics and remote control: all parameters are under control, and all events are recorded and available for subsequent analyses concerning production throughput or energy and product consumption.”
After cataphoresis coating and rinsing with ultrafiltrate to remove impurities, the components enter the polymerisation oven at 180 °C, and following cooling, the conveyor continues its journey down to the ground floor and into the secondary loading area. Here, the parts are masked if necessary and enter the fully automatic powder coating booth.
“In this area, an operator with a ‘wildcard’ function verifies the data entered during loading complies with the process requirements and checks the booth has loaded the correct recipe. The system has a reading frame with optical sensors to recognise the position of the hooks and load bars based on the data transferred from the system. That sets the booth to paint the incoming part according to the pre-set recipe. The only operation still done manually is replacing the powder box in the SuperCenter EVO machine after the automatic cleaning phase.” Finally, all parts reach the curing oven: “This means that the products treated with cataphoresis alone dwell in an oven twice, but this does not affect the quality of the film – we have carried out several tests precisely to avoid the risk of overbaking the cataphoresis layer. We use powders in 3 main colours: black, dark grey, and light grey. They are supplied by Inver2 , which we retain as our exclusive supplier,” Losi states.
2 A brand of The Sherwin-Williams Company.
“Lodi’s strategy is to bulletproof its process through quality audits,” concludes Claudio Lodi. “For us, this means optimising the use of equipment and products to achieve maximum performance and, just as importantly, guaranteeing working comfort for our employees, who are and will remain the driving force of our company, as my grandfather used to emphasise. In particular, our new coating line has enabled us to reduce production times, increase quality through the direct control of a process that is increasingly critical for our customers, and simplify the work of our team thanks to the perfectly integrated management system.”
From an interview with Dr. Markus Piepenbrink, Head of Global Sustainability, BASF Coatings
On 25 July 2024, the Directive on corporate sustainability due diligence (Directive 2024/1760) entered into force. The aim of this Directive is to foster sustainable and responsible corporate behaviour in companies’ operations and across their global value chains. The new rules will ensure that companies in scope identify and address any adverse human rights and environmental impacts of their actions inside and outside Europe. In addition, the Directive sets out an obligation for large companies to adopt and put into effect, through best efforts, a transition plan for climate change mitigation aligned with the 2050 climate neutrality objective of the Paris Agreement as well as intermediate targets under the European Climate Law.
Last March 2024, BASF Coatings, a leading suppliers of global surface solutions, launched the GLASS (Global Life Cycle Assessment for a Surface Solution) tool to calculate CO2 and cost simulations for automotive OEMs. The new GLASS tool allows paint shops in automotive manufacturing plants to optimise costs, performances, and sustainability.
In this interview with Dr Markus Piepenbrink, Head of Global Sustainability at BASF Coatings, we will understand why sustainability becomes more and more important and how the GLASS tool can be used by companies in the coatings & automotive industry to adopt and put into effect a transition plan for climate change mitigation aligned with the 2050 climate neutrality objective of the Paris Agreement.
Ipcm®: BASF is a multinational company very much oriented towards sustainability. Why is sustainability so important for BASF Coatings and its business?
Yes, both the entire BASF Group and the Coatings business unit are deeply involved in practices aimed at increasing the sustainability of
their operations and those of their clients. We have been dealing with the topic for a long time already, and we have set ourselves ambitious targets, like climate protection, the development of efficient solutions for our customers, and the use of safe chemicals in our formulation processes. With over 20 years of experience in sustainability and related issues like the Life Cycle Assessment of products and processes, and with its first integrated report issued already 15 years ago, BASF is today a leader in this field. Although there is a lot of history that relates sustainability to BASF, it is still a journey, and it is accelerating because customers ask us to support them in their own green transition not only with our products and process offer but also with our knowledge of this matter. This is exactly what we try to do by offering CO2 transparency tools like GLASS to the market.
Ipcm®: As you said, sustainability is a very diverse topic. CO2 reduction is one of your key strategic levers. What is CO2 footprint, and why is it important to measure it? What are your other key topics/priorities, and why?
Well, we as Coatings Division have three major pillars in our sustainability strategy, where we have dedicated targets. One is climate protection, that is, the reduction of the carbon footprint of our activities and of our product portfolio; the second one is the development of eco-efficient solutions such as thin film layers circular solutions or that can contribute to durability, to lengthen the lifetime of products. In this respect, coatings as such give a substantial contribution, especially in the automotive area. The third pillar is the use of safe chemicals as mentioned before: the European Union chemical strategy for sustainability is a very important topic for us as well, so we need to reformulate our products to improve their safety and sustainability according to the EU strategy. Besides these three main pillars, there are the economic and social aspects that need to be considered as well.
Climate protection is definitely a key priority, not only for us but also for our customers, for the entire society, and for legislation, which is quite advanced in this respect. Today, the decisions of a company related to climate protection can affect investments and financial decisions, since the financial market places great importance on how companies address the issue of climate protection. We at BASF Coatings are focussing our own activities around sustainability over the entire value chain, which includes what we buy, what we do, and what we sell, with a major focus on supporting our customers in reducing their own products’ carbon footprint.
ipcm®: As it is important to comprehensively understand carbon footprint, what role does your GLASS tool play?
The GLASS tool is a comprehensive and holistic tool that covers the entire value chain and focuses not only on our own products but also on the painting process as a whole. It can provide a comprehensive life cycle analysis of the ecological footprint of the paint shops in automotive manufacturing plants by calculating CO2 emissions and cost simulations. Companies that will implement this tool at their production sites will be able not only to calculate the carbon footprint of their own paint shop but of the entire value chain. This means what has been bought, which raw materials have been used and how they have been extracted, the impact of the coating application process, and then further down the road. GLASS not only covers the CO2 calculation, but also all the other environmental impact categories like VOC emissions, energy, water, and material consumption. This is the major lever of the tool because it represents a very detailed approach where the customer can input its own real-life data from the paint shop to optimise its own painting process. There are roughly 1,000 input parameters that allow the customer to
generate a twin of its painting process. If we put ourselves in the shoes of our customer, we can see that the chance it has to reduce its own scope 1 and 2 emissions significantly, i.e. what it emits at its own site, is to optimise its paint shop operations, since they account for roughly 60% of the entire energy consumption of the automotive production. To put this in perspective: we have to distinguish between the Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) and the Extended Carbon Footprint (XCF) All the five layers of coatings applied to a car body, you end up with roughly 30 kilograms of CO2 product carbon footprint. If you then look at the coatings process, considering the paint application, the climatisation of the paint shop, and the drying processes, you must consider a factor of 8 to 10 times higher, that is, over 200 kilograms of CO2 emitted into the environment for the application of materials, accounting for the extended carbon footprint. This is why we at
BASF Coatings must consider and cover the whole process: it is not enough to look at our own product carbon footprint, we must look at the carbon footprint of our customers. That is what GLASS does.
ipcm®: Can you explain in detail how the GLASS tool works?
The OEM can input its own operating parameters, mirroring the situation at its paint shop: the heating profile, the air conditioning, the application parameters, and so on. Once the tool has all the input parameters, the output is a diagram showing the impact of the process regarding CO2, energy, and costs. GLASS allows comparing the CO2 footprint among different production sites and among different technologies. This last feature is particularly important to evaluate the impact of new technologies before implementing them and to consider changes and adjustments that can be made to improve the performance of the paint shop and reduce the carbon footprint, for example, to switch from gas to a fully electricity-driven process. All things considered, GLASS is not an easy-to-use tool: it is designed to support those who really want to optimise the painting process and go into detail about what is wrong or what can be changed/ improved.
As an additional feature, GLASS implements a climate modelling feature. This allows the customer to simulate the working conditions of a paint shop located in a different region of the world, where the climate is different, for instance, in a tropical, humid region or in a very dry and cold area. The tool will automatically model the energy consumption, costs, and CO2 footprint related to these working conditions using the original process parameters of the customer’s paint shop. This feature is very useful for those OEMs who are considering building a news site in a different region of the world to see in advance what the CO2 impact of the paint shop will be, all operating parameters being equal.
ipcm®: Why the name GLASS?
It is an abbreviation, discussed already at the very beginning of the tool development: it stands for Global Life Cycle Assessment for a Surface Solution, but is also recalls something very clear, very transparent. And this is exactly what BASF wants to be: very transparent to its customers, to allow them to improve the CO2 footprint of their processes.
ipcm®: Did you use any benchmark for comparison to develop this tool?
Yes, of course. We addressed independent third parties, consultants for instance, who were familiar with such approaches and who were also experts in LCA. We relied on experts in different countries with a deep knowledge of the coatings process to ensure that the CO2 calculation would fit their experiences and would be valid. We consulted OEMs and paint shop managers as well, to improve the tool and to check its accuracy. Besides this, we have followed the two ISO standards for LCA calculations.
ipcm®: What was BASF’s ultimate goal when developing this tool?
The goal was to support our customers in their own green transformation, to help them optimise their own paint shops and to find future-proof solutions. This is something we do not need for our business’s sake, but for the industry’s sake, to offer the industry something that could be useful to increase sustainability, independently from which the supplier of coating materials is. The GLASS tool is not a service that BASF offers as a dedicated revenue stream. The goal is to make it available to the automotive industry and make OEMs able to further improve their carbon footprint.
ipcm®: Could the use of the GLASS tool contribute to assessing the cost per item and help optimise/reduce production costs as well?
Yes, sure. This is the second lever – we also call
it “the second dimension” – of the GLASS tool. If you put in the tool your working parameters, working costs, and capital expenditures, then you will get the cost estimate of your process and the cost per item.
ipcm®: What are you doing in fostering climate protection along the industry’s value chain?
We always look to the entire value chain in anything that we do. BASF is a chemical “Verbund”, that is, the physical integration of production, market platforms, and technologies that tie the businesses together. Verbund integration is at the core of our portfolio and one of BASF’s main strengths. In our Verbund, we intelligently connect our production plants and technologies to efficiently use resources and leverage our expertise. Reducing the CO2 is a long-term vision that spans several decades and requires significant investments. BASF has developed a carbon management program and solutions to reduce the PCF for our own Verbund sites around the globe with dedicated road maps.
Regarding climate protection, we have created a methodology and tool that is called SCOTT, a product carbon footprint calculation tool that we also call the CO2 Transparency tool. The idea is to look not only at our own production but also consider the entire pre-chain. If we look at our product’s carbon footprint, we can see how roughly 80% stems from what we buy. We call it the carbon “backpack” we receive from our suppliers. This means that we need to address our suppliers if we want to further improve and further reduce our PCF, asking them to contribute to our journey.
Besides this, we have developed solutions to reduce the product carbon footprint of our customers, providing them with tools like GLASS and an innovative product portfolio that includes for example low-bake, waterborne, and integrated processes.
ipcm®: What are the next steps BASF is taking to help its customers reduce emissions? You talked about a full box of tools and solutions.
First, BASF is improving its product portfolio through innovation. We are offering a dedicated green portfolio with a reduced carbon footprint: a customer can either go for the best product in performance or for the best in performance and the best in sustainability. This is a major lever.
The second lever is the consultancy we offer to support customers in their green transition. The GLASS tool, which covers the entire paint shop’s carbon footprint and beyond, is an example. We are also looking towards the Digital Product Passport. The DPP will include essential details such as a unique product identifier, compliance documentation, and information on substances of
with a complete service that includes system design manufacturing, installation, technical support and chemicals
SPRAY BOOTHS WATER SLUDGE REMOVAL
RESIN DEMINERALIZATION SYSTEMS
REMEDIATION OF CONTAMINATED SITES
BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS
BATCH TREATMENTS
PHYSICAL-CHEMICAL SYSTEMS
ADSORPTION FILTRATION
REVERSE OSMOSIS
MEMBRANE SYSTEMS
EVAPORATORS
BIOGAS BIOMASS SYSTEMS
OIL SEPARATORS
DESANDERS
DESALINATION SYSTEMS
PYROCHAR
OTHER SYSTEMS
CHEMICALS
concern. It is designed to close the gap between consumer demands for transparency and the lack of reliable product data. This strategy concerns the entire Group, both in its relationship with the outside – meaning with its customers – and in its internal organisation: our business units are encouraged by the target systems to foster and further improve the sustainability of our portfolio and to support the customer.
ipcm®: You talked about CO2-reduced and reducing solutions. Can you elaborate on what that means and what solutions BASF Coatings offers here?
A carbon-reduced solution is a product that has been made with a lower CO2 intensity at our own sites and formulated with CO2-reduced raw materials. These can also be mass balance-approach products: we can introduced biogas or bio-Napha instead of fossil feedstock into the BASF Verbund and allocate this to a specific and certified coatings product to come up with a lower product count footprint, reduced by 40 to 60% compared to products made with fossil fuels.
A carbon-reducing solution reduces the amount of material and the energy needed for its application. This category includes low-bake paints or thin-film solutions.
If we look at BASF’s entire portfolio and go a little beyond the paint shop to the use phase, a carbon-reducing solution is NovaFlex SharkSkin, a surface film that mimics the fine structure of a sharkskin: films that are put on an aircraft to optimize the airflow and thus reduce its CO2 emissions during cruise.
ipcm®: You recently launched ChemCycling® products under the mass balance approach. You have already been offering a biomass balance solution to the coating industry for a long time. What are the benefits and contributions of those mass balance approaches in leveraging circularity in the coatings industry?
We can either use renewable resources like biogas, bio-NAPHTA, or other raw materials from circular origin. ChemCycling® is the name of a chemical recycling project launched by BASF with the aim to manufacture
products from chemically recycled plastic waste on an industrial scale. BASF cooperates with technology partners that use a thermochemical process called pyrolysis to transform plastic waste (either mixed plastic waste or end-of-life tyres) into a secondary raw material (pyrolysis oil). This oil is fed into BASF’s production network (Verbund) at the beginning of the value chain, thereby saving fossil resources. The share of recycled material is attributed to products manufactured in the Verbund using a third-party audited mass balance approach. The resulting products, which carry the name suffix “Cycling®”, have the exact same properties as those manufactured from fossil feedstock. Our customers can, therefore, further process them in the same way as conventionally manufactured products and use them in demanding applications. These circular solutions are interesting because they can be transferred to the customer, to the applicator: they can be applied in everyday painting operations.
ipcm®: What is the role of innovation for a sustainable future and for your business? There is no sustainable future without innovation. This is something we always have to keep in mind. Optimising, improving, and increasing efficiency is important for the entire industry, far beyond the coatings segment. We must understand that we need to join forces to innovate successfully along the value chain. We must do it in all dimensions, on a vertical and on a horizontal level. Cooperation among industry players is the key to make this industry more advanced. Finally, it is necessary to quantify the benefits: this is why we use the LCA approach for our own targets, for our own performance measurement, for improving our products, and for improving our customers’ operations. Sustainability and climate protection are not about nice pictures and nice storylines. They have to be proven with data.
Total Finishing is increasing its operations and personnel, acquiring new talents with unique skills and expertise that will further help the customers.
Total Finishing Solutions is proud to announce the expansion of its team with the addition of two highly skilled professionals: Hannah Christopherson as Marketing Manager and Jarrod Staffen as Change Agent for Utah and Southeast Idaho. These strategic hires underscore the company’s commitment to innovation, customer satisfaction, and leadership in the finishing industry.
Total Finishing encompasses three divisions—Total Finishing Solutions, Total Finishing Systems, and Total Finishing Supplies—offering comprehensive solutions as well as expertise in painting and finishing. With this strengthened team, the company is poised to continue leading the industry in efficiency, quality, and innovation.
Hailing from a family farm in Oregon that has been in her family since 1863, Hannah’s roots in industry and hard work run deep. Her career in marketing began with a passion for storytelling, which she has channelled into impactful digital campaigns and creative content creation. She first partnered with Total Finishing as a freelance contractor, where she quickly impressed with her ability to elevate brand presence and connect with audiences. When the opportunity arose to join the team full-time, it was a perfect match to further elevate the brand’s visibility and customer engagement.
“I have always admired Total Finishing’s commitment to innovation and quality,” Christopherson stated. “I am thrilled to bring my skills in digital marketing, brand building, and storytelling to this forward-thinking team.” Staffen has owned and operated several fi nish shops across the Pacific Northwest, including his most recent role as General Manager of Diamond Prefinish in Kent, Washington. His diverse career also includes serving as a Technology Specialist at Microsoft, with a focus on speech recognition, and as Vice President of Telecommunications at Washington Mutual. This unique blend of technological expertise and finishing industry knowledge allows him to deliver cutting-edge solutions and strategies to clients.
“With my background in finishing operations and technology, I look forward to helping clients elevate their processes,” said Staffen. Both Christopherson and Staffen embody Total Finishing’s mission to provide innovative solutions and unparalleled expertise. These new additions not only enhance the company’s ability to meet growing demand but also reinforce its dedication to delivering top-quality service and support to its clients.
For further information: www.totalfinishingsolutions.com
The right partner in the green transition
Ilaria Paolomelo ipcm®
Today, energy efficiency and reduced consumption are key objectives for the coating industry, which is increasingly oriented towards sustainability. With over 85 years of experience, Helios Quartz offers innovative solutions such as infrared and UV quartz lamps that are ideal for curing and drying coatings.
High performance and low consumption – a combination that, today more than ever, is a top priority for companies operating in sectors that are increasingly focused on energy efficiency and sustainability. It is not just a matter of achieving excellent finishing results but also of integrating high performance into a production process that is environmentally friendly and optimised in terms of consumption. In this context, infrared and UV quartz glass lamps are establishing themselves as an innovative and valuable solution for the industrial coating sector. Thanks to their ability to combine high performance with significant energy savings, these technologies are rapidly gaining the attention of an evolving market that aims to reduce its environmental impact without compromising on quality.
With over 85 years of experience in the industry, Helios Quartz has become a benchmark manufacturer of infrared and ultraviolet lamps, able to respond precisely to the specific needs of its customers by ensuring superior efficiency, reliability, and quality.
Radiation stands out among the existing heat transfer methods as the most powerful and efficient one. Unlike convection and conduction, it requires neither direct contact with the surface to be heated nor the presence of intermediary agents such as air. Thermal energy is transferred via electromagnetic waves emitted by a heating source, reaching the substrate precisely and quickly. Heating effectiveness depends on a few essential variables: the temperature of the heating body, the ability of the heated body to absorb heat, and the shape, position, and proximity of the heated body to the radiating source.
Infrared (IR) wavelengths are found between 750 nm and 1 mm in the electromagnetic spectrum. Specifically, quartz infrared lamps cover a range from 3.5 µm (medium wave) to 0.9 µm (short wave). Figure 1 compares radiation intensity curves for halogen lamps (short wave, medium wave, and fast medium wave). Thanks to such variability, heating can be optimised by adapting the type of wavelength to the characteristics of the material to be treated. Moreover, compared to traditional forms of heating such as hot air, infrared lamps emit more energy per unit area, which can be focused, concentrated, directed, and reflected in a light-like manner, allowing for greater precision and control in the curing process.
“The infrared lamps designed by Helios Quartz (fig. 2) consist of a filament enclosed in a quartz tube,” says Luigi Gastaldo, Sales Manager at Helios Italquartz Srl. “The choice of quartz glass as a casing is no coincidence: this material guarantees total transparency to infrared radiation, resistance to temperatures above 1,000 °C, and high compatibility with
From top left clockwise:
Figure 1 - Comparison of radiation intensity curves for halogen lamps (short wave, medium wave, and fast medium wave); Figure 2 - IR lamps emit more energy per unit area, which can be focused, concentrated, directed, and reflected in a light-like manner, allowing for greater precision and control in the curing process; Figure 3 - The configuration of a single tube (left) and a twin tube (right).
chemicals. We may use two types of quartz tubes to accommodate the filament: single or twin (or two-filament) tubes. Thanks to its “inverted H” shape, the latter ensures greater mechanical strength and enables us to produce lamps up to 6.5 metres in length (Fig. 3).” Thanks to these special features, Helios Quartz’s IR lamps are a versatile and highperformance technology suitable for a wide range of industrial applications, particularly in the industrial coating sector, where precision, speed, and energy efficiency are key requirements.
Their main advantages include as follows:
Heating speed: IR lamps reach operating speed in seconds and require no pre-heating time, ensuring fast and consistent heat transfer.
Power: thanks to their easy power adjustment, IR lamps allow achieving precise temperatures on the paint layer, which prevents over-curing.
Energy efficiency: reduced switch-on times enable IR emitters to be activated only when and where needed, reducing consumption and limiting heat loss to the surrounding environment.
Figure 4 - The spectrum of light visible to the human eye.
Figure 5 - UV lamps are made with a quartz tube sealed at both ends and containing a small amount of mercury and an inert gas.
Ease of control: these lamps can be controlled via wave train control systems or in ON/OFF mode, guaranteeing precise regulation.
No contact: radiation eliminates the need for direct contact with the workpiece, reducing the risk of contamination.
Compact design: compared to conventional hot-air ovens, quartz IR modules have reduced dimensions, simplifying heating systems’ design and maintenance.
Ultraviolet (UV) radiation, also referred to as ultraviolet rays or ultraviolet light, is a form of electromagnetic radiation that lies in the electromagnetic spectrum at wavelengths immediately below those of light visible to the human eye and above those of X-rays. The term “ultraviolet” is derived from the Latin ultra (“beyond”) precisely to indicate that these wavelengths are located beyond the colour violet, the last visible frequency of the spectrum perceived by humans (Fig. 4).
Helios Italquartz was established in 1940 based on an idea of its founder, Armando Giro, who acquired a company called Actinia that specialised in the production of infrared and ultraviolet lamps. Since then, this business has undergone many changes, evolving through corporate restructuring and mergers but holding firm to its promise to always deliver the highest quality products. Today, the Helios Quartz Group, with headquarters in Cambiago (Milano, Italy), a site in Novazzano (Switzerland), and representative offices in America and Asia, is recognised globally as one of the leading manufacturers of quartz lamps for a wide range of sectors, including glass, plastics, rubber, textiles, and scientific research equipment, particularly in universities. The company’s primary target market is Europe, but it is now seeing significant developments in the United States of America and, to a lesser extent, in South America, but also in China, where demand for quality machines for the domestic market is growing exponentially. Continued growth has also translated into the need to expand the company’s available spaces: its Cambiago site has recently undergone a renovation project that tripled the area devoted to production. All this enables Helios Italquarz to consistently meet its customers’ demands and ensure timely processing, production, and deliveries.
The UV spectrum can be divided into two broad categories:
Near UV: 380-200 nm
Extreme UV: 200-10 nm
When analysing the effects of UV radiation on human health, this range is further classified into:
UV-A (400-315 nm): the dominant component at the Earth’s surface.
UV-B (315-280 nm): partly filtered by the Earth’s atmosphere, with 95% absorbed by the ozone layer.
UV-C (280-100 nm): entirely absorbed by the Earth’s atmosphere and therefore absent at ground level.
The Sun emits radiation in all three bands, but thanks to the ozone layer, most of the UV radiation that reaches the Earth belongs to the UV-A band. In fact, almost 100% of UV-C and 95% of UV-B is absorbed by the Earth’s atmosphere.
“Our UV lamps (Fig. 5) are made with a quartz tube sealed at both ends and containing a small amount of mercury and an inert gas. Quartz as a base material has a high transmissivity (Fig. 6) and is highly transparent to UV radiation, ensuring resistance to high temperatures and a long service life. Our quartz UV lamps can cover wavelengths ranging from 200 to 400 nm, making them ideal for a wide range of industrial applications, including curing and drying UV glues, paints, and coatings.”
Depending on requirements, Helios Quartz uses natural, synthetic, or doped (ozone-free) quartz. Its product range includes medium and low-pressure UV lamps, amalgam UV lamps, and black light (or Wood’s light) UV lamps.
Understanding the importance of cosmetic packaging: top cosmetics packaging trends in 2025 and 2026 66
ON TECHNOLOGY
Decorluxe drives sustainability in its cosmetic packaging hub in synergy with its long-standing paint supplier
74 ADVANCEMENTS
Exploring the role of PVD in packaging: the touch of physics that envelops things
78 MARKET CLOSE UP
Through the looking glass: three packaging trends shaping 2025
80 FOCUS ON TECHNOLOGY
COMETA: versatility, productivity, and innovation. The three key words to becoming a leader in cosmetic packaging coating
86 FOCUS ON TECHNOLOGY
Afterglass and Bormioli Luigi confirm strategic partnership with their long-standing water treatment plant supplier 94 BRAND NEW
Stahl completes the acquisition of WEILBURGER Graphics GmbH as part of its strategy to strengthen its new packaging coatings division.
Stahl, the world leader in speciality coatings and treatments for flexible materials, has completed the acquisition of WEILBURGER Graphics GmbH, a leading German-based manufacturer of water-based and energy cured coatings for the packaging industry and graphic arts. The transaction significantly strengthens Stahl’s new packaging coatings division and supports its strategy to broaden its franchise for coatings for flexible materials.
The acquisition of WEILBURGER Graphics, a division of Grebe Holding GmbH strengthens Stahl’s strategic position in Europe, positioning the company as the second-largest player in the region. WEILBURGER Graphics had 2023 sales of 70 million euros and over 140 employees –primarily based in Germany.
Maarten Heijbroek, CEO of Stahl: “I am very excited to now officially welcome our new colleagues to the Stahl Group. We have been highly impressed by WEILBURGER Graphics’ quality, advanced technology, and
the deep customer knowledge of their people. We can’t wait to work together as of today. We are committed to ensuring a continued service to all customers during and after the integration.”
Günter Korbacher, managing director of WEILBURGER Graphics GmbH, comments on the acquisition: “The affiliation with Stahl is a perfect strategic fit for WEILBURGER Graphics. With our long and successful growth story of more than 140 years and a high level of brand awareness as an innovative and trustworthy supplier of packaging and graphics coatings, this decision offers excellent synergy effects and growth opportunities for our site in Gerardshofen. We are confident that we have made the right decision for our continued success. Becoming part of Stahl will accelerate our growth and offer our customers even greater added value.”
For further information: www.stahl.com
Lubrizol’s Sancure™ 20898 is specifically designed for packaging coatings, offering a new benchmark in performance and versatility.
Lubrizol has expanded its portfolio of resin solutions for coatings with the launch of Sancure™ 20898, a cutting-edge polyurethane dispersion tailored for packaging applications.
“This new polyurethane dispersion is engineered to withstand the harsh demands of embossing processes, such as holographic foils and high-gloss metallic finishes, offering an ideal blend of durability and flexibility that helps designs maintain their integrity. The capabilities of Sancure 20898 make it an excellent choice for premium packaging applications,” has stated Miriam Peralta, global marketing manager of Lubrizol.
Sancure™ 20898 is engineered to enhance the performance of coatings used in hot stamp foil (HSF) holographic packaging. By delivering an exceptional balance of hardness and flexibility, this innovative polymer enables high-quality finishes where aesthetics and durability are critical.
The Lubrizol Corporation, a Berkshire Hathaway company, leverages specialty chemistry to deliver sustainable solutions that advance mobility, improve well-being, and enhance modern life. Founded in 1928, Lubrizol combines scientific innovation with market insight to create value for its customers through groundbreaking products. With more than 100 manufacturing facilities, sales, and technical offices globally, the company employs 8,000 people dedicated to driving discovery and improving the world.
For further information: www.lubrizol.com
www.apengroup.com export@apengroup.it
Cosmetic packaging plays a crucial role in the beauty industry, serving as both a protective layer for products and a key element in attracting consumers. This article delves into innovative designs, ecofriendly materials, and consumer preferences that shape cosmetic packaging today. Understanding and internalizing these trends for the upcoming two years is strategically important for companies operating in the cosmetic packaging painting and decoration sector. This allows them to update their technologies and offerings to meet market demands.
The article was first published on the Rixin Cosmetics website (https://rixincosmetics.com/blog/cosmetic-packaging-trends/) and it is republished here courtesy of the company.
Packaging is more than just a container. It is a powerful tool for communicating the brand’s identity and attracting customers. In the competitive skincare market, unique and attractive packaging can make a product stand out.
Beyond just holding the product, packaging is a powerful tool that communicates quality, style, and values, helping to make a memorable first impression. This article will explore the latest trends in cosmetic packaging, focusing on how design, materials, and functionality are evolving to meet consumer expectations and elevate brand appeal.
Packaging plays a key role in showcasing a brand’s identity, reflecting its values, personality, and uniqueness. For example, minimalist and eco-friendly packaging often appeals to brands focused on sustainability, while vibrant and luxurious designs might resonate with brands targeting a premium market. The style, colours, and materials used in cosmetic packaging communicate a message to consumers, helping them connect with the brand and remember it. A well-designed package can differentiate a brand in a crowded market, making it memorable and reinforcing trust among consumers.
Product protection is a primary role of cosmetic packaging, ensuring that products remain safe, effective, and fresh throughout their shelf life. Packaging acts as a barrier, protecting skincare and beauty items from environmental factors like sunlight, moisture, and air, which can degrade ingredients and reduce effectiveness.
By sealing products securely, packaging helps maintain their quality and consistency, preventing contamination from bacteria or other external elements. In addition, sturdy packaging prevents leaks, spills, and physical damage during transport, ensuring the product reaches consumers in its intended condition.
Packaging plays a vital role in shaping the overall consumer experience. It is often the first thing consumers notice about a product, creating a lasting impression even before they try the product itself. Well-designed packaging not only protects the contents but also reflects the brand’s quality, values, and style. When packaging is attractive, easy to use, and informative, it enhances satisfaction, making consumers feel they have chosen a high-value product. Ultimately, thoughtful packaging can build brand loyalty, encourage repeat purchases, and increase consumer trust in the brand.
The global cosmetic packaging market size was valued at USD 32.67 billion in 2023 and is expected to expand at a CAGR of 4.4% from 2024 to 2030. The increasing demand for cosmetics, fuelled by a growing youth population and changing grooming habits among men and women, significantly boosts the market. The rise of e-commerce and internet penetration has also expanded the reach of cosmetic products, further driving the demand for effective packaging solutions. Moreover, the shift towards eco-friendly and sustainable packaging options, driven by heightened environmental awareness among consumers, is propelling market growth.
With their increasing disposable incomes and changing lifestyles, emerging economies present substantial opportunities for market expansion. These factors collectively contribute to the robust growth trajectory of the cosmetic packaging market. Growing development in the cosmetic industry and innovative and aesthetically appealing packaging designs, which are crucial in attracting consumers and differentiating products in a competitive market, are expected to drive market growth. Furthermore, increasing R&D activities and high demand for cosmetic products among consumers is propelling the market expansion.
The plastics segment accounted for the largest revenue share of 60.8% in 2023. This significant market share underscores the widespread preference for plastic materials in cosmetic packaging, driven by their versatility, durability, and cost-effectiveness.
1 Source https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/cosmetic-packaging-market
2 Source: https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/cosmetic-packaging-market
The popularity of plastics in this sector is also attributed to their ability to be molded into various shapes and sizes, catering to diverse cosmetic product requirements. Additionally, advancements in sustainable and recyclable plastic options have further bolstered their appeal, aligning with the industry’s growing emphasis on eco-friendly packaging solutions. The paper segment is expected to grow at the fastest CAGR of 5.9% over the forecast period. This anticipated growth is largely driven by the increasing consumer demand for eco-friendly and sustainable packaging solutions. As environmental concerns continue to rise, more cosmetic brands are opting for paper-based packaging to reduce their carbon footprint and appeal to environmentally conscious consumers. Furthermore, the recyclability and versatility of paper make it an ideal option for secondary packing, further contributed to the market growth.
The cosmetic packaging market is influenced by the regional distribution of major packaging companies and manufacturers. Different regions have their strengths and specialities when it comes to cosmetic packaging.
In North America, there is a strong focus on innovation and sustainable packaging solutions. Many companies in this region are leading the way in creating eco-friendly materials and designs. Brands are increasingly looking for ways to reduce their environmental impact, and manufacturers in North America are responding with advanced technology and creative solutions.
In Europe, the cosmetic packaging market is characterized by a diverse range of styles and materials. Many European brands emphasize luxury and aesthetic appeal, often using high-quality materials that reflect the premium nature of their products. Additionally, Europe has strict regulations on packaging, pushing manufacturers to focus on safety and sustainability.
In Asia-Pacific, there is rapid growth in the cosmetics packaging sector, driven by the rising demand for beauty products. Countries like China and South Korea are at the forefront of cosmetic innovation, and many packaging companies are establishing their presence in this region. Asian brands often emphasize unique and eye-catching designs to attract consumers.
The Middle East and Africa are emerging markets for cosmetics packaging. While the industry is still developing, there is growing interest in high-quality packaging solutions that appeal to local consumers. Manufacturers in this region are starting to adopt modern packaging techniques to meet the demands of a changing market.
Understanding these regional distribution patterns is essential for businesses looking to stay updated on cosmetic packaging trends and effectively reach their target markets. Each region offers unique opportunities and challenges that can shape the direction of the cosmetics packaging industry.
Global regulations and policies play a significant role in shaping the cosmetic packaging market. These rules are designed to protect consumers, promote sustainability, and ensure that products are safe for use. In the table at page 63 there are some key aspects of how global policy trends affect cosmetic packaging.
One of the leading cosmetic packaging trends today is minimalist design, which focuses on clean, simple, and elegant packaging styles. This approach often uses neutral colors, straightforward fonts, and uncluttered layouts that give products a sophisticated and modern look. Minimalist packaging is appealing because it conveys a sense of purity and transparency, aligning with consumers’ preference for clean beauty. It also makes products easier to navigate and more approachable, as the lack of excessive detail allows the skincare ingredients and brand to stand out clearly. As demand for eco-friendly options grows, many brands combine minimalist design with sustainable materials, emphasizing a commitment to both beauty and the environment.
Functional packaging has become a major focus in Cosmetic Packaging Trends, emphasizing ease of use and hygiene. Consumers today value
packaging that not only looks good but is also practical and convenient. Popular functional options include twist-up sticks for creams or balms, which allow precise application without the mess of dipping fingers into a jar. Fine mist pumps are another excellent choice, especially for products like toners and facial sprays, as they provide an even and gentle application. These packaging styles enhance the user experience, making products more accessible and reducing the risk of contamination by minimizing contact with the contents inside.
Sustainable packaging is one of the leading cosmetic packaging trends, driven by a rising demand among consumers for eco-friendly organic options. People are increasingly aware of the environmental impact of plastic waste and expect brands to take responsibility for reducing it. As a result, companies are shifting towards sustainable materials like recycled plastics, glass, and biodegradable options. Recycled plastics minimize waste, while glass is both reusable and recyclable, offering a high-end look that many consumers prefer. Biodegradable materials, made from natural substances, break down over time and reduce long-term waste. Embracing these sustainable choices allows brands to meet consumer expectations while contributing to a greener planet.
One of the key cosmetic packaging trends today is refillable packaging, which focuses on reducing waste and appealing to eco-conscious
Regulations on Packaging Materials
Labeling Requirements
Sustainability Initiatives
International Standards
Many countries have strict guidelines about the materials used in packaging. For example, certain harmful substances may be banned, leading companies to choose safer alternatives. This shift encourages the use of recyclable and biodegradable materials, aligning with the growing demand for sustainable products.
Governments often enforce clear labeling standards to help consumers make informed choices. This includes information about ingredients, usage instructions, and safety warnings. As a result, brands must ensure their packaging complies with these regulations, which can vary by region. Clear and accurate labeling builds trust with consumers and helps them understand what they are buying.
There is an increasing push for eco-friendly packaging due to concerns about environmental impact. Many countries are implementing policies to reduce plastic waste and encourage recycling. As a response, cosmetic companies are adopting sustainable practices, such as using less plastic or designing refillable packaging. These practices not only comply with regulations but also meet consumer expectations for environmentally responsible products.
International standards can influence packaging practices. Many brands aim to enter global markets, requiring adherence to various policies across different countries. This can involve adjusting packaging designs, materials, or labeling to meet these standards.
consumers. Instead of purchasing a new product container each time, consumers can simply buy refills, making it a more sustainable option. Refillable packaging typically uses durable materials designed to last through multiple refills, reducing the number of single-use plastics that end up in landfills. Many brands are adopting this trend to show commitment to environmental responsibility, and customers appreciate the balance of convenience and sustainability that refillable options provide. This trend aligns with the increasing demand for sustainable beauty practices and eco-friendly product choices.
Technological advancements are shaping Cosmetic Packaging Trends, with 3D printing emerging as an innovative tool for creating custom designs. 3D printing allows cosmetic brands to produce unique, intricate packaging shapes that stand out on shelves, meeting consumer demand for originality. One major benefit of this technology is rapid prototyping, which allows designers to create and test different packaging options quickly and efficiently, cutting down on development time. Additionally, 3D printing helps reduce production costs, as it minimizes waste and requires less manual labour, making it a sustainable option for brands looking to streamline their packaging processes.
Cosmetic Packaging Trends are increasingly focusing on interactive packaging to boost consumer engagement. By integrating technology
like QR codes, augmented reality (AR), or NFC (near-field communication) tags into packaging, brands can offer an immersive experience beyond the product itself. For instance, consumers can scan QR codes to access tutorials, product information, or even virtual try-on features directly from their smartphones. This interactive element not only helps educate consumers but also builds brand loyalty by creating memorable, techenhanced experiences. Interactive packaging is transforming the beauty industry, connecting brands with consumers in fresh, engaging ways.
Innovative dispensing packaging
Cosmetic Packaging Trends are evolving rapidly, with innovative dispensing packaging taking centre stage. New dispensing technologies, like airless pumps, spray pumps, and dropper bottles, offer not only improved functionality but also help maintain product quality. Airless pumps, for example, work by preventing air from entering the packaging, which helps protect sensitive ingredients from oxidation, extending the product’s shelf life. Spray pumps provide a fine mist application, ideal for products like toners or setting sprays, allowing for an even, controlled application. Dropper bottles, on the other hand, give precision in dispensing, making them a popular choice for serums and essential oils, where exact amounts are key.
These advancements reflect consumer demand for packaging that combines ease of use with effective product preservation, setting new standards in the cosmetic industry.
Cosmetic Packaging Trends are increasingly focused on sustainability, and post-consumer recycled (PCR) packaging has become a popular choice for reducing environmental impact. PCR packaging is made from recycled plastic materials, such as used bottles and containers, which helps decrease waste and reduce reliance on new, raw plastic production. By using PCR materials, cosmetic brands contribute to a circular economy, where resources are reused rather than discarded. This shift to PCR packaging not only lowers carbon footprints but also appeals to eco-conscious consumers who prioritize environmentally friendly products. As demand for sustainable packaging continues to grow, PCR packaging stands out as a responsible and impactful option in the cosmetics industry.
Smart packaging is becoming a major focus, bringing new levels of interaction and functionality to beauty products. With the ability to track product usage, smart packaging helps consumers monitor how much product is left, ensuring timely reorders, and reducing waste. Many smart packaging solutions also feature embedded sensors or QR codes that provide real-time information, such as expiration dates, usage tips, or ingredient details. This interactive experience builds a stronger connection with consumers, as they can access valuable insights by simply scanning or tapping their smartphone on the product. Smart packaging is set to transform how beauty brands connect with
customers, creating a more engaging, informed, and personalized experience.
Cosmetic Packaging Trends are increasingly moving toward personalized packaging, which allows brands to create unique experiences for their customers. Personalized packaging involves customizing designs, colours, or even names on individual products to make them feel specially crafted for each user. This trend appeals to consumers’ desire for products that reflect their identity and preferences, fostering a stronger emotional connection with the brand. Advances in digital printing and flexible packaging materials have made it easier and more cost-effective to produce limited runs or custom labels. Personalized packaging not only enhances the customer experience but also builds brand loyalty and sets products apart in a competitive market.
Multi-sensory experiences in cosmetic packaging are gaining popularity, as brands aim to make each product feel unique and memorable. One approach is to use textured paper, which can add a luxurious or natural feel when held. Specialized printing techniques, like embossing or foil stamping, create visual and tactile interest, making the packaging stand out. Some brands even add subtle scents to the packaging, giving a hint of the product’s fragrance. These trends in cosmetic packaging help build excitement and satisfaction during unboxing, enhancing the brand’s connection with consumers and creating a lasting impression.
We will see how companies operating in the surface treatment sector, both in engineering and technological development and in the application and use of these technologies, will focus on research to meet these trends in design and materials that will dominate the near future (N.d.R).
rotoli, pannelli e celle in fibra di vetro
celle filtranti per alte temperature
rotoli e pannelli in fibra sintetica
accumulatore
vernice “Columbus”
filtri “Andreae”
cartucce filtranti
filtri assoluti
applicazioni speciali
rolls, panels and cells of glass fiber
filtering cells for high temperatures
rolls and panels of synthetic fiber
paint accumulator “Columbus”
“Andreae” filters
filtering cartridges
absolute filters
special application
distributori esclusivi per l’Italia
massima efficienza
massimo accumulo di vernice
massima durata
minori costi di smaltimento
rispetto ai filtri oggi in commercio =
minori costi di manutenzione
L’esclusivo design alveolare permette di trattenere quantità di overspray notevolmente superiori
Monica Fumagalli and Ilaria Paolomelo ipcm®
In the exclusive world of cosmetic packaging, product wrapping is not simply a matter of containers but a crucial element of branding, capable of communicating emotions and conveying an image of quality and sophistication. Sometimes, outer appearance can even outweigh the importance of the content itself. The quality of the wrapping inevitably depends on the perfection of its coating. The Decorluxe Group stands as a centre of excellence in luxury packaging in Italy – an achievement reached thanks to the extraordinary and far-sighted vision of Claudio Mottini, the CEO of V.M.C. Mottini, and the solid collaboration of trusted, long-standing partners, including liquid paint manufacturer Vernici Caldart.
Have you ever walked through the aisles of a supermarket or shop and found yourself attracted by a product on the shelf, driven by curiosity about the shape, size, or colour of its packaging? That moment of spontaneous attention is never accidental. In perfumery and cosmetics, packaging is no longer just a wrapper enclosing a product. It has become an actual “emotional extension” of the brand, a means to tell its story, amplify its values, and create deep connections with the consumer. In this context, the coating applied – the very soul of the packaging – becomes the distinctive element capable of making the difference between a simple package and a complete sensory experience.
“‘The essence you possess, clothed by us’ is one of the claims that best sums up our work,” explains Cristina Palara, Export Developer Manager at the Decorluxe Group, the Italian hub specialising in luxury packaging for the perfumery, cosmetics, skincare, make-up, and beverage sectors. “Visual appearance comes before smell, taste, and touch, and we aim to draw attention by giving each package a unique personality through eye-catching coatings that will strike a chord in both our customers and their end consumers when they notice a product stand out among all the other on the shelf.”
Nowadays, however, packaging is not just about aesthetics but also strategy. Not infrequently, the container is perceived as even more important than the content itself, thus becoming a crucial communication tool for brand positioning. At the same time, as the importance of wrapping quality grows, significant questions emerge about its production and use. “The cosmetics industry is going through a period of profound transformation driven by a growing awareness of its environmental and social impact,” Palara emphasises. That is no longer limited to raising awareness about the use of natural ingredients or resource consumption but encompasses the entire life cycle of products, from raw materials to formulation, from packaging to end-of-life.
“To drive genuinely sustainable developments, we need an approach to eco-design based on precise parameters. These range from choosing materials with the best environmental performance to reducing packaging weight, from reuse and refill solutions to design simplification and, last but not least, finishing. Implementing production cycles with a reduced environmental impact is decisive for companies wishing to remain responsible and, at the same time, competitive. In this sense, a paint supplier’s contribution is strategic: since its foundation in 1997, V.M.C. Mottini, the company from which our Group originated, has chosen Vernici Caldart (Bellusco, Monza e Brianza, Italy), a provider specialising for almost fifty years in the formulation, production, and sale of liquid paints for plastic and glass for the packaging, eyewear, industrial, and refinish sectors.”
The idea from which Decorluxe, Italy’s cosmetic packaging hub, originated two years ago was the result of the foresight of Claudio Mottini, the CEO
of the Group’s parent company, V.M.C. Mottini (Chiuduno, Bergamo, Italy). Since its foundation, it has focussed on the coating of products for the fashion and cosmetics industries, quickly establishing itself in a niche of excellence – that of cosmetic packaging – thanks to the use of different technologies, including coating, screen printing, pad printing, hot stamping, UV sputtering, and sublimation.
“We are unique in Italy,” states Palara, “because nothing like this had ever been conceived within our borders before. In Claudio Mottini’s vision, the creation of a Group consisting of formerly competing companies with consolidated experience in their respective fields of specialisation would guarantee immediate operability without ramp-up periods, which could compromise the fulfilment of orders. Its project is based on the objective of providing customers with a single point of reference able to receive the raw products and return them ready for filling. The innovative aspect is precisely the Group’s ability to offer a full service so that, from the moment the container is received to its delivery, our customer no longer has to worry about anything.
This strategy was also endorsed by Ethica Global Investments, a holding company that invests in Italian SMEs, which enabled the Decorluxe Group to bring together the best expertise in the sector of surface finishes for luxury packaging. In addition to V.M.C. Mottini, the Group includes Verbar, a benchmark supplier in the glass, metal, and plastic coating and
3D glass sublimation market for perfumery, cosmetics, and wine & spirits luxury packaging; Plast.Met, which for over fifty years has been offering vacuum metallisation and coating services on plastics and glass for the cosmetics and wine & spirits industries; Aurora, active in the decoration sector through hot stamping, screen printing, pad printing, and digital printing; Eurovercos, which develops traditional and UV surface treatments with liquid application of organic colours and specialises in the customisation of glass, plastic, and metal surfaces for the furnishing & furnishing accessories, perfumery, and cosmetics sectors; and Décor-Style, which specialises in the mirror-effect hot engraving of logos, lettering, and bands on plastic and aluminium products for the most prestigious national and international brands, also including the hot transfer process.
“Instead of competing, these companies can bring their processes full circle, doubling their equipment and offer through staff already trained and made up of true professionals in each sector, thus providing their customers with an all-round service that also includes handling, reduces times, and ensures greater control over the quality of finished products. The Group boasts an impressive equipment fleet of 109 production lines, including 7 coating lines, 15 glass decoration systems, 1 sublimation machine, 15 pad printing plants, 60 machines for hot stamping and foil heat transfer on plastic, 7 screen printing
lines, 1 metallising plant, and 3 UV sputtering systems; one of these is an innovative automatic line we installed in 2018 to complete the range of processes in V.M.C. Mottini’s portfolio. As a Group, we currently produce more than 2,000,000 workpieces daily.”
In such a competitive environment as luxury packaging, the demands for customisation have reached very high levels. “The processes are becoming increasingly complex, and the creativity of designers sometimes reaches such a point that it is the very company that commissions the product that realises it has gone overboard and takes a step backwards,” Palara says to describe the current trends in this industry.
“The technological aspect of machining processes and, consequently, of the products used to carry them out has become more efficient than ever before,” notes Christian Sala, Italy Sales Director at Vernici Caldart. “This
sector, more than others, presents product innovations at an astonishing rate, almost daily, because it borrows the trends of the fashion world, whose marketing is conditioned by the need to continuously launch new products. That is why, as paint manufacturers, we must keep a close eye on the demands that companies like Decorluxe place on us, even the most complicated and challenging ones.”
Gianluca Zanardo, Vernici Caldart’s Export Sales Director, explains: “For some projects, we can achieve the required results with the products that our laboratory has already developed, but in other cases, it is necessary to develop new, made-to-measure ones from scratch. In these cases, the collaboration with our customers must necessarily become closer. We also offer an after-sales assistance service to respond promptly to any requests and problems that may arise.”
“We at Decorluxe like to think that our collaboration with Vernici Caldart is human as well as technical, a cooperation between people who share the same goals, a synergy between two companies that interface with
each other to create a relationship of mutual trust and growth in which chemistry is the basis and a green approach its driving force,” Palara points out.
The Group works with the most important international players in the industry. “It is understandable, therefore, that the specifications submitted to us require compliance with the highest standards of quality and sustainability,” Cristina Palara reiterates. “Quality control is a crucial phase of our workflow, and we carry it out with leakage and product conformity tests, including the most rigorous and advanced ones available on the market, in compliance with regulations and using the same measuring and control tools as our customers, to guarantee uniformity of results. Previously, we entrusted some external bodies with the analyses for product certification. Now, Decorluxe is equipped with a lightbox to visually assess and compare colours under three different light conditions (office light, daylight, and combined light), an ageing oven for tests at a constant temperature for 24 hours, a climatic chamber, sun test and abrasion test instruments, a sclerometer and military standard tools, and a statistical control system for finished products.”
As Cristina Palara emphasised several times during our interview, the most radical changes the industry is undergoing concern sustainability.
Packaging is becoming an increasingly important aspect of a product’s ecological footprint.
Vernici Caldart supplies Decorluxe with two types of coatings: waterbased coatings for glass products intended for the perfumery, cosmetics, and beverage sectors and UV coatings for the PVD treatment of plastic and glass container components. “Decorluxe has already made a fundamental step forward by replacing solvent-based paints with waterbased ones and introducing PVD coating technology to replace the less sustainable galvanic coating process,” indicates Vernici Caldart’s R&D Manager Paolo Marchesi. “I personally supervised the project for the latter transition at Plast.Met: vacuum metallising enabled the company to reduce emissions by 80% while achieving higher coating results. Our laboratory developed a special, water-based pre- and post-metallising coating that met specific high temperature resistance, gloss, adhesion, and bottling resistance characteristics.”
“Today, fewer and fewer customers request polluting processes such as electroplating,” Palara confirms, “but more and more of them ask for green certification of our processes, especially abroad. In the European Union, relevant regulations heavily affect the technological evolution of the glass and plastic decoration sector. For this reason, we have not only planned to get all the companies in the Group certified to ISO 9001 (except for V.M.C. Mottini and Aurora, which are already so) but also to obtain
In a sector presenting product innovations at an astonishing rate like the packaging one, a paint manufacturer’s task is to maintain a high focus on its customers’ demands, no matter how complicated and challenging.
Ecocert certification1, which verifies the conformity of products to specific ecological and social standards, in the shortest possible time.”
The Italian cosmetics market in 2025 is expected to register an 8% increase in turnover, with exports increasing by 10%2. Italy plays a crucial role in the global cosmetics industry, primarily through contracting, which generates a turnover of around EUR 2 billion (2023 data3) with strong annual growth and a significant part of production destined for international markets.
1 www.ecocert.com/en/certification
2 https://www.milanofinanza.it/fashion/beauty-italiano-stimato-in-corsa-a-oltre-18-miliardi-nel-2025-8-202409261921296278
3 https://www.cosmeticaitalia.it/export/sites/default/centro-studi/indagine-congiunturale/Congiunturale-febbraio-2024.pdf
“Italian companies in the cosmetics cluster are recognised for their excellence in product formulation, production, and packaging,” Palara concludes. “Being part of this world is, on the one hand, exciting, and on the other, extremely challenging, especially for companies that, like Decorluxe, have chosen to interface with a niche market, that of luxury packaging. We are proud to have become a benchmark manufacturer through the sustainability practices we have initiated in close collaboration with Vernici Caldart, without which we could not have achieved this important result. However, there is still a long way to go to bring the entire cosmetics sector to a degree of environmental sustainability that meets expectations. As we have already pointed out, product innovations, combined with the creativity of packaging designers, know no limits, and we must be ready for anything. Because the first impression is the one that counts, and a valuable product must have a ‘dress’ worthy of its value... along with, now more than ever, environmental footprint certification.”
Edited by Kenosistec Casarile (Milano), Italy antonio.angolemme@kenosistec.it
PVD is redefining the packaging industry by combining advanced functionality with environmental sustainability. Offering superior protection, reduced material usage, and premium aesthetics, PVD caters to diverse applications, from pharmaceuticals to luxury goods. Companies like Kenosistec are at the forefront of this transformation, delivering innovative PVD solutions that align with the industry’s evolving demands and environmental goals, setting new standards for quality and sustainability in modern packaging.
As the packaging industry grapples with evolving consumer expectations and stringent environmental standards, innovation becomes the key to staying competitive. Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) is emerging as a transformative technology that addresses these challenges head-on. Far from being a conventional coating method, PVD represents a leap forward, offering advanced solutions that seamlessly merge practicality with aesthetic brilliance. The promise of PVD lies in its ability to revolutionize packaging materials. By enhancing protection while reducing material use, it caters to industries looking for lighter, more sustainable options without compromising performance or design. This dual capacity makes PVD a strategic tool in reducing waste and creating premium packaging experiences.
Moreover, the flexibility of PVD applications unlocks a diverse range of possibilities. From safeguarding sensitive pharmaceutical products to adding luxurious appeal to cosmetic packaging, this technology serves as a versatile and eco-friendly answer to the diverse needs of the market.
The continued exploration of PVD’s capabilities is setting new benchmarks for quality, sustainability, and innovation. Its relevance in the packaging industry is only expected to grow, as brands increasingly seek cutting-edge solutions that leave a lasting impression both on consumers and the environment.
This article features Kenosistec, a European leader in thin-film deposition solutions, as it delves into the remarkable properties of PVD technology, its versatile applications in the packaging industry, and the promising future this innovative approach holds for advancing packaging solutions.
Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) is an advanced coating technology that perform the deposition of thin films onto various substrates in a vacuum environment. Using processes such as evaporation or sputtering, PVD creates durable, high-performance coatings that enhance surface properties.
The packaging industry is increasingly turning to PVD for its unique ability to combine functionality, aesthetics, and sustainability.
PVD coatings on packaging provide exceptional properties that align with the industry’s evolving demands: evolve on sustainability.
PVD films have a great barrier-effect to protect packaged goods. They create a shield against oxygen, moisture, and light—exactly what is needed to keep food fresh and pharmaceuticals safe. Imagine being able to extend shelf life and ensure quality with something lightweight and flexible, as a thin layer of coating and at the same time reduce plastic consumption? The PVD is the answer. In addition, PVD coating resist scratching, wear, and even environmental degradation. That means the package not only protects what is inside but looks great while doing it, all the way to the end of its lifecycle. And then there is the aesthetic appeal, because packaging isn’t just about
protection. With PVD, we can achieve stunning finishes—metallic, matte, glossy. It is the premium look and feel brands want, and it is done in an eco-friendly way.
For food packaging, PVD coatings provide an ultra-thin but supereffective barrier. Lightweight yet highly functional, it is perfect for keeping food fresh and safe. When it comes to luxury goods, like highend perfumes and cosmetics—the kind of packaging that catches your eye with its sophisticated metallic shine. That is PVD at work. And for pharmaceuticals, PVD does something truly vital. It protects sensitive drugs from harmful UV light and other external factors, ensuring they stay effective longer.
So, whether it is about preserving freshness, adding durability, or turning heads on the shelf, PVD is proving to be a real game-changer in the packaging industry.
It is also an environmentally friendly technology, as PVD processes do not rely on hazardous chemicals, reducing the risk of toxic waste generation, are optimized for energy consumption, further reducing the carbon footprint of the coating process, and can achieve high barrier properties
© Kenosistec R&D is one of the core pillars for Kenosistec, which aims to study and enhance PVD coatings with improved barrier properties and customized functionality to meet the specific needs of packaging.
with ultra-thin layers, contributing to material reduction without compromising functionality.
There is to add that PVD coatings are fully recyclable, in line with circular economy principles.
These attributes make PVD an attractive option for companies that want to reduce their environmental impact while maintaining high quality standards.
The future of PVD in packaging is very exciting, thanks to advances in materials science and the growing demand for sustainable solutions. Researchers are continuously studying and improving PVD coatings with improved barrier properties and customized functionality to meet specific packaging needs.
PVD technology is becoming more affordable, enabling smaller companies and industries to adopt it and expand its applications. With growing awareness of environmental challenges, increasing regulatory pressures and consumer demand for sustainable practices, PVD is poised to play a transformative role in the packaging industry.
Founded in 2005 from the merger of Kenotec and Sistec, Kenosistec has emerged as a European leader in thinfilm deposition solutions. Over the years, the company has significantly expanded its expertise, reliability, and production capacity to meet the most demanding requirements of global industries. Based in Casarile, Milan, Italy, Kenosistec specializes in the design and manufacture of tailor-made equipment for thin-film deposition. As part of the renowned Angelantoni Group, the company is at the forefront of vacuum deposition and coating technologies, serving industries such as nanotechnology, renewable energy, microelectronics, optical instrumentation, and automotive.
Helios Quartz Group SA
Via Roncaglia 20 6883 Novazzano - Switzerland
Tel. +41 (0) 919233555/6 Fax +41 (0) 919233557 swiss@heliosquartz.com www.heliosquartz.com
Helios Italquartz S.r.l.
Via delle Industrie 103/A 20040 Cambiago - Milano - Italy
Tel. +39 02 95 34 93 18 Fax +39 02 95 34 50 85 italy@heliosquartz.com www.heliosquartz.com
By Stahl Holdings B.V. Waalwijk - Netherlands
Packaging coatings are crucial for both protection and aesthetics, with growing demand for sustainable solutions driven by food packaging and e-commerce. Stahl leads in developing innovative, sustainable coatings, investing in biodegradable and recyclable options. The company also embraces emerging trends like the Internet of Packaging and multi-sensory experiences to enhance brand engagement.
Packaging coatings are a vital element of the packaging industry. Beyond their functional role in protecting contents from external factors like moisture, light, and oxygen, coatings also play a key role in the visual and tactile appeal of packaging. From soft-touch finishes to striking metallic effects, these coatings can transform ordinary packaging into memorable brand statements. The demand for sustainable and innovative packaging solutions is on the rise, fuelled by the growing food packaging sector and the rapid expansion of e-commerce. According to a report by Mordor Intelligence1, the global packaging coatings market is set to grow at a CAGR of 5% between 2023 and 2028. Within this evolving landscape, we’ve identified three emerging trends set to shape the future of packaging.
1 https://www.mordorintelligence.com/industry-reports/packaging-coatings-market
The Internet of Things (IoT) has already revolutionized the way we interact with devices, and now it’s extending to packaging. Known as the Internet of Packaging (IoP), this innovation leverages smart, machine-readable technologies like RFID, NFC, and QR codes to store and share detailed product information.
From enhancing supply chain traceability to combating fraud and improving customer engagement, IoP offers exciting opportunities. Industry leaders like beverage companies Diageo and Rémy Martin are already integrating NFC tags into their packaging to ensure consumer safety and provide deeper insights into their supply chains.
Sustainability continues to dominate the packaging conversation, with increasing pressure from consumers and regulators to reduce plastic waste. The European Union’s forthcoming Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), part of the Green Deal, introduces ambitious targets for recycling and sustainable design.
By 2030, plastic packaging must include a minimum percentage of recycled content, with stricter recycling targets set for 2040. Stahl is investing heavily in barrier coatings that align with these goals, including biodegradable and biobased options. These coatings support the shift toward mono-material and paper-based packaging, enabling sustainable solutions without compromising product protection.
Packaging is often the first touchpoint between a brand and its customers, and it can significantly influence purchasing decisions. Multisensory packaging enhances this experience by appealing to sight, touch, and even smell.
Stahl’s Sensora® range of coatings is designed to elevate packaging’s tactile qualities. Whether you’re looking for a silky, textured, or velvety feel, these solutions help brands craft a distinctive sensory profile that resonates with their identity and leaves a lasting impression.
Anodizing & Powder coating plant realization
Waste Water Treatment Plant
Chemicals for Waster water treatment
Alessia Venturi ipcm®
A product’s packaging is the first and foremost ambassador of a brand. Packaging is a crucial marketing asset in an increasingly demanding market, where every detail counts: appearance, quality, sustainability, performance, time-to-market. Behind these characteristics lies a production process that must combine high quality and productivity through advanced automation. For companies specializing in packaging metallization and painting, it is strategic to constantly update their production assets with the latest technologies, not only to remain competitive but also to support designers and brands in their pursuit of uniqueness and of an exclusive consumer experience. This is what COMETA, a French industrial player with extensive history and deep knowledge of finishing processes, has done by investing in a brand-new and innovative packaging painting line designed and built by Eurotherm.
Minimalist and functional, yet also luxurious and multisensory. These are just some of the adjectives that best define the emerging trends in cosmetic packaging for 2025 and 2026, which also include the adoption of sustainable materials, the use of advanced technologies, and a focus on consumer experience. All these themes, particularly that of technological innovation aimed at quality and increased productivity, are at the heart of COMETA Metallisation’s ambitious development program, which began in 2024 with the installation of a second high-productivity UV painting line for packaging, both cosmetic and non-cosmetic, designed, manufactured and installed by the Italian engineering Eurotherm Spa (Volpiano, Turin).
Based in Izernore, near Lyon, COMETA is a historical and independent player in the metallization, varnishing, and lacquering industry in France.
For 35 years, from ORPHEL to GUINARD before becoming COMETA, the company has grown and adapted to meet the needs of its ever-increasing client base with a customer-oriented approach.
Located in the French Plastics Valley, a hub of excellence in the plastics industry at the crossroads of Europe, an area which extends around the Oyonnax basin, between Lyon and Geneve, it was natural for COMETA to become a key player in the metallization, varnishing, and lacquering sector.
COMETA owes its development and longevity to several factors, starting with the experience and expertise it has acquired. Today, more than 30 employees can manage daring packaging decoration projects, primarily for cosmetics but not limited to them, with one core objective: to enhance a product with the finest finishes.
Thanks to this approach, COMETA has earned and grown the trust of the most prestigious brands in the cosmetics, perfumery, and spirits sectors, but its expertise extends to the automotive industry and many other industrial sectors as well.
“COMETA is the fusion between two small companies, also located in the Plastics Valley, which were Guinard and Orphel. They merged in 2016 and the new industrial reality quickly emerged in the field of metallization and painting of plastic components, a sector dominated by the power of large international groups and of two very strong independent players, one Italian and one Dutch” Antoine Nivesse, General Manager at COMETA tells ipcm®. “Back then COMETA was a family business offering high quality varnishing, lacquering, and metallization in the Plastics Valley, where 50% of the plastics companies are based. In April 2022 Jet Metal, a leader in spray metallization, bought COMETA to develop the business of plastics painting. Today the company is 100% subsidiary of Jet Metal, whose goal is to turn it into the French independent leader in metallization, varnishing, and lacquering of packaging for the cosmetic industry”.
Expert in decoration and fine finishes
With 2 UV varnishing lines, 4 metallization chambers, and a thermal workshop, COMETA can process over 30 million pieces annually.
“Our team’s dedication and customer-oriented organization make us a preferred partner in an often-complex daily routine” states Antoine Nivesse. “We never compromise on quality: durability, excellence, and customer satisfaction are at the heart of our priorities.”
“Our company is equipped with fast and versatile industrial lines for varnishing and metallization. COMETA masters both UV and traditional varnishing technologies, favouring the use of high-solids content varnishes to reduce the carbon footprint of its finishing processes. The varnishes used can decorate a wide variety of materials such as PP, PET, PE, SAN, ABS, ZAMAK, METALS, and even recycled materials like RPET and RPP. The coatings we offer ensure intense, colours with a glossy, matte, or even “soft” finish. In addition, we offer metallic, pearlescent, and glittery effects”.
Beside varnishing and lacquering, Cometa offers metallization, that is the process that gives a piece a unique and rare aesthetic finish, highlighting a luxury appearance.
“Our metallization coatings are compatible with other decorative technologies, such as screen printing, pad printing, inkjet printing, or hot stamping. Metallization can be produced in the colour chosen by the customer, regardless of the desired effect, that can be glossy, satin, or matte” Antoine continues.
“In three years, since Jet Metal acquired the company, COMETA has tripled its turnover, going from 1.2 million euro in 2021 to 3.2 million euro in
2024. We have a lot of ambitions for this company: to reach our business development goals we needed and will need more production capacities. This is the reason why in 2023 we have partnered with Eurotherm to implement a new high-throughput UV varnishing line. We finish small, medium, and high-volume series, ranging from 5,000 pieces to millions of pieces: what we asked Eurotherm was to supply us with a versatile, advanced, and highly automated painting system.”
“We already had one big UV line applying both the basecoat required by the metallization process and the subsequent topcoat, but we needed a second line to respond to the increasing market demand” Antoine Nivesse explains. “We have been working with Eurotherm for 15 years now, because Jet Metal supplied them its spray metallization technology to equip their plastic painting lines with in-line metallization. We have a very strong relationship with Eurotherm and we are a very fond of their equipment, of their degree of innovation, and of their reactivity when technical support is needed.”
The new painting line has a very compact layout, with a floor conveyor and loading and unloading areas in the same spot. The line speed is 6 m/min. After manual loading of the parts onto the piece-carrying bar, parts undergo a surface preparation process including the following stages:
Ionization
Brushing
Ionization
Flame treatment.
After all the dust has been removed from the plastic pieces and their surfaces have been activated to receive the varnish, the parts enter the first application booth, equipped with 7 spray guns and two separated paint supply-circuits since each booth can apply both the basecoat and the topcoat. After a flash-off area for solvent evaporation, there is an IR tunnel for additional flash-off before entering the second painting booth, equipped with 7 spray guns and two paint circuits, exactly as the first booth. Then, after solvent evaporation and IR flash-off, parts enter the UV curing oven for polymerization, then proceed to the cooling zone and to the unloading area.
“The line supplied us by Eurotherm is very compact and versatile” Antoine comments. “We can apply one, two or more layers of basecoat and topcoat. Nonetheless we decided to dedicate this line to basecoat application only, to produce a flawless surface before metallization. Only such an advanced painting line with a good air filtration system could ensure us a defects-free surface before entering the vacuum chamber: metallization is like a mirror and if there are defects on the substrates, these will be mirrored by the metal layer. The topcoat needed to protect the metallization layer is then applied on the
existing UV painting line.”
“The one installed at COMETA is a standard line for cosmetic packaging that paints the exterior of the packaging products” states Paolo Ghiazza, General Manager of Eurotherm Spa. “There are two different kinds of paint installations for packaging: with or without piece-carrying bar, according to the finishing stages included in the process. If batch metallization in a vacuum chamber is included, the use of spindles to move the pieces along the line is not an option: the painting line must be equipped with piece-carrying bars mounted on the floor conveyor, because bars can be transferred and put into the metallization chamber right after unloading from the painting line, without the need to unload every single piece and hang it again on a bar for metallization.”
“With the installation of Eurotherm UV painting system COMETA runs a fully integrated process: application of basecoat on the new system, metallization in the vacuum chambers, application of the topcoat on the old painting system. The challenge was to adapt the piece-carrying bars the conveyor of the existing painting line and to create a new, efficient workflow without too much manual handling of the pieces, which always implies surface defects and rejects” Paolo Ghiazza states.
“Sustainable development concerns us all. COMETA brings its green sensitivity to the entire value chain of our customers’ production process” Antoine Nivesse states. “All the suppliers of decoration and finishes should work with the idea of sustainability in mind. This is definitely COMETA habits. All the biggest cosmetic group like L’Oreal, Louis Vuitton, LVMH are using sustainable and recycled materials for their packaging and they asked their suppliers of decoration and finishes to switch to sustainable materials and to run resource- efficient processes. For this reason, 80% of the varnish and lacquer we apply have high-solid content and the lowest possible VOC emissions”.
“To start using the new Eurotherm painting line was a challenge for my technical team: they were used to run a 17 years’ old system and it has been difficult to switch to a new technology, to a lot of innovation in the process and to completely new operating conditions” Antoine Nivesse concludes. “In two weeks, my team absorbed all the information from the trainers of Eurotherm and started running successfully the new system. Now they are glad to work with such a modern equipment. COMETA’s main goal is to grow: we expect to triple our turnover by 2029. It’s not impossible, maybe it will require some more years but for sure COMETA will need to increase again its capacity: the short-term program is to install a third UV line in this production site, to buy another site and to implement Jet Metal roll-to-roll spray metallization process. This will make us the French leader in packaging decoration!” © COMETA COMETA
Ilaria Paolomelo ipcm®
Afterglass, a company specialising in the decoration of components produced by Bormioli Luigi, a long-established world leader in the production of glass for the perfumery sector, has been working with Water Energy for many years for the regular supply of chemical products and the installation of water treatment and purification systems in all of the Group’s plants throughout Europe. Recently, Afterglass’s new Spanish plant, located near Madrid, has also adopted a Skimmerflot 5000 water treatment system, thus further consolidating this ten-year partnership.
In this issue of ipcm®, where we give ample space to the world of coating for products in the cosmetics and perfumery sectors, we aim to take you on a journey through the companies of excellence that make this industry so unique and innovative. Among the success cases that emerge from these pages, we could not overlook the story of a company that has made craftsmanship perfection and technological research the core of its identity: Bormioli Luigi.
Founded by the Bormioli family in 1825, it soon specialised in the production of high-end glass containers for perfumery and distillery, as well as tableware in crystal glass. Today, it is recognised as the third largest global producer of glass components for the perfumery industry and has a prestigious global customer base.
“Bormioli Luigi’s success stems from a targeted strategy, oriented both towards acquiring state-of-the-art technologies and expanding through new sites,” explains Matteo Solimè, the Technical Director of Afterglass. Alongside the long-standing Italian production plants in Parma and Abbiategrasso (Milan), new sites have been opened for glass production over the years, first in France and more recently in Spain. Starting in 2013, the company decided to add a specialised glass decoration unit to each of these plants, with the aim of becoming a single-source supplier performing every process stage from production to decoration and coating. This is why Afterglass was established as a company devoted to the decoration and coating of the glass products made by Bormioli Luigi. Traditionally, Bormioli Luigi relied on external decorators and coating contractors, both in Italy and abroad; however, in 2013, it chose to insource the coating process to acquire the necessary know-how, anticipate the trends of a highly demanding and diversified market, and solve logistical complexities.
Recently, its expansion strategy has led it to acquire a factory in Azuqueca de Henares, in the province of Guadalajara (Spain), where it founded Bormioli Luigi España, dedicated to glass processing, alongside Afterglass España.
The glass decoration and coating process
“Glass decoration is critical in enhancing our products and increasing their prestige,” explains Solimè. With Afterglass, Bormioli Luigi can perform extremely sophisticated and high-level processes such as:
silk-screen printing;
pad printing;
marking and hot stamping;
internal and external lacquering or coating;
metallising;
application and glueing of accessories.
The entire decoration process is fully integrated into the company’s production chain, which also handles third-party components, such as labels or accessories in plastic, metal, and fabric, to provide its customers with finished, ready-to-fill products.
“As far as the coating phase is concerned, we do not have a standard cycle because each project is tailor-made according to the customer’s
At the Afterglass plant in Spain, Water Energy has installed two Skimmerflot 5000 sludge separators, one for each coating booth, and it supplies the necessary chemicals to run an efficient and safe water treatment process.
needs, the required aesthetic results, and the characteristics of the product to be decorated. However, as a general rule, our systems have a loading area, a surface preparation area including flame hardening, brushing, and deionisation, one or more booths for liquid paint application, a flash-off area, a drying oven, and an unloading area.” The components are handled via a chain ranging from 150 to 250 metres in length, depending on the line’s complexity.
“In all our plants, the coating cycle’s structure is similar,” explains Matteo Solimè, “except for the two most recent lines installed in Italy and Spain, which include electric ovens designed to reduce the use of gas and increase energy efficiency.”
Overall, Bormioli Luigi has six coating lines: four located in Parma, one in Spain, and one in France, in Bormioli Luigi France’s atelier. “The Azuqueca de Henares plant is still in the ramp-up phase,” notes Alberto Sanz Cuenca, post-production manager at Bormioli Luigi España and Afterglass España. “We have completely renovated our production site and trained
our staff directly in the Parma plant. In addition to the technical aspects, obtaining customer validation on the new plant and processes is crucial. This takes time, but we are on the right track and will be operational as of February.”
When Afterglass began coating operations at its Parma plant in 2014, it immediately realised the importance of treating water not only to preserve and recycle such an essential resource but also to reduce overspray and adequately manage its coating system. “Initially, we relied on a supplier suggested by the company that had installed our coating line. This was a completely new field for us: until the previous year, we had been relying on an external company for coating, and we were looking not only for effective technology but also for training and continuous support. Unsatisfied with our initial choice, we decided to collaborate with Water Energy (San Pietro in Casale, Bologna, Italy), and we started a partnership
that continues with success and great enthusiasm today, after ten years,” says Solimè. “Our collaboration started with the supply of chemical products but has expanded over time, especially through the acquisition of new lines where we have implemented plant solutions designed by Water Energy. Today, we own many plants installed by this company in Italy, but also in the new Spanish one, confirming our solid and fruitful partnership.”
At the Azuqueca de Henares plant, Water Energy has integrated a number of advanced, proven technologies into Afterglass’s production department. In particular, it has installed two Skimmerflot 5000 sludge separators, one for each coating booth, and it supplies the necessary chemicals to run an efficient and safe water treatment process. “Our Skimmerflot flotation units are made entirely of AISI 304 steel. They continuously separate suspended or emulsified
The system with OptiSpray All-in-One pump technology and double OptiSpeeder powder hoppers (DualSpeeder) enables the handling and preparation of two independent colours one after the other for ultra-fast colour changes or in parallel for simultaneous coating from both OptiSpeeder powder hoppers.
pollutants in industrial processing liquids through the flotation of a layer of sludge produced on the water surface. This creates a sort of decharacterised sludge, that is, residue that has lost its adhesive properties,” describes Tommaso Ponara, the owner of Water Energy.
The Skimmerflot devices operate by mechanically separating sludge from water, allowing it to emerge and be removed through continuous skimming of supernatant particles, which are sent to special containers equipped with drainage bags (big bags). To facilitate the separation of pollutants and the flotation of sludge, Water Energy uses micronised air injected directly into both the feeding circuit and the bottom of the reaction tank. Residual water is recovered through a recycling system. This process works in a continuous-flow, automatic circuit where the only operation required of the customer is to replenish water. “The system is designed to require minimal water replenishment: we usually tend to change it once a year, in conjunction with the maintenance operations that take place in August, when there is more time available for this type of work,” Ponara continues.
Sludge, on the other hand, is disposed of by authorised bodies. “It is also
possible to integrate a sludge compaction system that quickly reduces the residual water content and thus disposal costs, as sludge is charged by weight. An innovative aspect we have introduced in our plants is the active water filtration unit in the overspray abatement system,” illustrates Ponara. “We have created an all-steel module capable of maintaining the purity of the water sent to the recirculation system in order to prevent the accumulation of residual particles that could clog the nozzles and the booths’ water curtain. These particles are also removed and managed by the sludge separator to maintain the entire system completely clean.”
A distinctive aspect of the perfumery sector is the variety and complexity of the products requested by customers. The shape and design of the bottles, as well as the effect and type of paint to be applied, change constantly. Coating lines must therefore be able to handle a wide range of water-based paints, including glitter, soft touch, or translucent products. “The development process usually starts with a prototype bottle, known as a maquette. The customer specifies its desired shape and effect, while
the glassmaking department advises on the most suitable materials, treatments, and coatings and works closely with our paint suppliers to find the ideal finish to achieve the required result. However, the constant changing of paints also complicates the sludge removal process,” explains Afterglass’ technical director.
Production management is equally challenging. Products have short life cycles, and production batches are often limited: for each painting line, around 60,000 items are processed daily at Afterglass, with around three item changes per day in the coating line. Each change operation requires not only the replacement of paints, guns, and nozzles but also rigorous quality set-ups. Before loading the line, tests are carried out with just a few workpieces to ensure optimal results and avoid waste and losses due to the high cost of glass. Such production flexibility demands a high level of technical expertise and intelligent management of the coating system. For example, it is crucial to dose the paint products precisely to avoid wastage and to calibrate the water treatment chemicals just as carefully.
Water Energy’s collaboration has allowed the development of a smart water treatment system that can interface directly with the coating line.
The two plants communicate in real-time, adapting to specific needs. During the coating line’s adjustment phase, for instance, the system automatically reduces the amount of chemicals used, thus optimising consumption and maintaining balance, which is fundamental for effective sludge removal. In addition, the system also allows for automatic recipe management. If the customer opts for different paints with specific chemical requirements, the sludge removal system adapts automatically.
“Our Skimmerflot plants are equipped with a chemical dosing system that can be fully controlled and monitored both by the customer and by our production department remotely. This makes it possible to schedule drum replacement or identify any problems, such as insufficient dosing,” says Ponara. “We supply Afterglass with four chemical products: a flocculant, a denaturant, a defoamer, and a pH corrector. The latter is crucial because paint and its components tend to acidify water, so it is essential to keep the pH value of the work environment close to neutrality, i.e. around 7.”
Managing sludge removal with the water-based lacquers and paints used by Afterglass presented a complex technical challenge, addressed and solved through close collaboration with Water Energy. The primary objective was to reduce the paint products’ stickiness and facilitate the flotation of the sludge so that it could be treated efficiently and sustainably.
“We are extremely satisfied with our collaboration with Water Energy as we have found a partner capable of providing not only advanced technological solutions but also strategies oriented towards environmental sustainability, such as the Plastic Free programme,” states Matteo Solimè.
This programme focuses on reducing plastic waste through reusable chemical containers that are returned to Water Energy and reused until the end of their service life. That eliminates disposal costs and significantly reduces environmental impact. As Ponara emphasises, “This programme has allowed us to reduce stock and empty drum management costs to zero. We have also reduced logistics-related times by providing our customers with higher-capacity containers, which minimises production disruptions and downtimes.” In short, a commitment that translates into economic, environmental, and operational benefits.
The Italian provider of primary cosmetic packaging solutions is paying tribute to Pantone’s 2025 colour of the year with a new collection of glass bottles.
Lumson, a leading Italian company in primary cosmetic packaging, honoured Pantone’s 2025 Color of the Year Mocha Mousse, a warm and comforting shade with Absolute, an innovative line that redefines serum packaging. The Absolute collection features seven elegantly crafted glass bottles, available in sizes ranging from 10 to 30 ml, paired with either cosmetic droppers or push-down dispensers. Distinguished by its glossy, semi-transparent brown hue, the collection elevates the inherent beauty and sophistication of glass. The combination of minimalist sans-serif fonts and refined script typography further enhances the line’s understated elegance.
The choice of brown is deliberate and meaningful. Far more than a mere alternative to black, it is a warm, enveloping colour that conveys subtle, reassuring luxury. This earthy tone reflects naturalness, authenticity, and sophistication, perfectly aligning with the essence of Mocha Mousse – the 2025 Pantone Color of the Year.
Mocha Mousse is a rich and warm brown shade that speaks to our innate desire for comfort. It recalls the sensory indulgence of cocoa,
chocolate, and coffee, exuding a refined yet understated elegance. This unique blend of earthy sophistication and quiet luxury is encapsulated in Lumson’s Absolute collection. With its warm brown tone that accentuates the timeless allure of glass, Absolute embodies Lumson’s signature minimalist style, characterised by enveloping colours and sleek, clean lines.
The design is further elevated by the dropper, which features a polished silver finish that adds a touch of shine and sophistication. At Lumson, packaging perfection goes beyond aesthetics; a dispensing system is not just an accessory but a key factor in functionality and success. Designed to integrate seamlessly in perfect synergy with its bottles, Lumson’s dispensing systems ensure outstanding results with calibrated dosages tailored to different products. Made entirely in Italy, they are also available in eco-friendly options.
For further information: www.lumson.com
TRATTAMENTO ACQUE
WATER TREATMENTS
PREVERNICIATURA E NANOTECNOLOGIE
COATING PRETREATMENT AND NANOTECHNOLOGIES
SGRASSANTI INDUSTRIALI DEGREASERS
SVERNICIANTI
PAINT STRIPPERS
Eric Casebolt Vice President, The ChemQuest Group, Inc. ecasebolt@chemquest.com
Over the past few years, the development and application of powder coatings for electric vehicles (EVs) has increased significantly. These coatings are now integral to critical EV components such as battery packs, electric motors, and busbars, all of which directly impact vehicle performance and efficiency. Major powder coatings manufacturers have introduced product lines specifically tailored to these applications, driven by two primary factors: the economic attractiveness of the EV market and the distinct advantages powder coatings offer over alternative technologies.
The EV market has experienced rapid growth in recent years. Although this growth rate will likely moderate, it is expected to remain significantly above global GDP growth rates well beyond 2030. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), annual EV sales increased from approximately three million vehicles in 2020 to nearly 14 million in 2023—a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 67%. EVs’ market share by vehicles sold rose from 4% in 2020 to 18% in 2023 and is projected to reach 44% by 2030, with a forecasted CAGR of 17% from 2023 to 2030. The dynamic nature of the EV market creates opportunities for innovation, particularly in the previously mentioned components that are central to vehicle safety, range, and charging efficiency. As these components evolve, they demand advanced materials and technologies, allowing suppliers to introduce high-value products tailored to emerging needs. Powder coatings are a prime example, offering solutions to critical challenges in EV component design.
To appreciate the benefits of powder coatings, it is essential to understand their applications in key EV components and the unique set of properties required.
Eric Casebolt, Vice President of The ChemQuest Group Inc.
Battery packs store energy for vehicle operation, consisting of multiple battery cells, control circuitry, and a cooling system, all housed in a protective casing. During charging and operation, components within the battery pack experience high levels of electric current and elevated temperatures due to material resistance. Effective operation demands reliable electrical insulation of the individual components, efficient heat dissipation, and robust protection against environmental factors such as corrosion and chemical exposure.
Powder coatings tailored for cell casings within battery packs deliver high dielectric strength and thermal shock resistance, ensuring safe operation. Coatings for cooling system components and battery pack housings enhance electrical insulation and thermal conductivity while protecting the components from corrosion and exposure to chemicals, maintaining component integrity and efficiency under demanding conditions.
Electric motors convert electricity from the battery pack into motion using opposing magnetic fields in the stator and rotor to rotate the wheels and propel the vehicle. The magnetic field in the stator is generated by the flow of electric current through copper hairpin windings, necessitating electrical insulation, effective heat management, and environmental protection.
During motor assembly, powder coatings are applied to exposed welded areas of the hairpins, providing essential insulation, corrosion resistance, and protection against automotive fluids. These coatings extend motor longevity while supporting efficient energy conversion.
Busbars distribute power across the EV’s electrical system by serving as a conductive pathway between the battery pack, inverter, motor, and other components of the vehicle where high voltage is required. Constructed from highly conductive materials, busbars must efficiently handle high currents while minimizing resistance.
Powder coatings on busbars offer exceptional electrical insulation and thermal conductivity, managing heat generated by electrical resistance. These coatings also protect against corrosion and chemical damage, ensuring long-term reliability.
Powder coatings excel in meeting the increasingly stringent demands of EV components. Their high dielectric strength ensures electrical insulation, while advanced formulations facilitate heat dissipation and withstand prolonged exposure to high temperatures. Additionally, powder coatings provide superior corrosion and chemical resistance in a single coat, with excellent edge coverage.
Tailored formulations enable manufacturers to optimize coatings for specific applications, balancing properties such as electrical insulation, thermal conductivity, and durability. Moreover, the sustainability profile of powder coatings—free from solvents and associated emissions—aligns with the environmental ethos of EVs, making them a preferred choice for developers and manufacturers.
As the EV market continues to expand, powder coatings are poised to play a critical role in enhancing the performance, safety, and sustainability of electric vehicles. Their unique ability to meet the complex demands of EV components positions them as a key enabler in the ongoing evolution of this transformative industry. For product manufacturers, adopting advanced powder coatings offers a pathway to innovation, differentiation, and alignment with the sustainable future of transportation.
To learn more, reach out to the author at ecasebolt@chemquest.com or visit https://chemquest.com/cqpcr
The Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer BYD Auto Company Limited is building its first European passenger car plant. To equip it with painting technology, BYD selected Dürr. Over the coming months, the German mechanical and plant engineering company will send more than 120 robots to Hungary for various painting lines. These robots, fitted with EcoBell3 atomizers, deliver outstanding quality and support sustainable painting.
BYD Auto Company Limited, is one of China’s largest vehicle manufacturers, ranks among the market leaders in electric vehicle sales. Now, the company is building a European car factory in Szeged, Hungary, becoming one of the first Chinese car manufacturers to do so. For painting its “New Energy Vehicles” (NEV), BYD has partnered with Dürr. For this project, Dürr will supply and install more than 120 painting and handling robots. “As a world market leader in automotive painting, Dürr is the right partner to implement projects of this size successfully and on schedule. It was not just our outstanding technology that won over BYD, but also our experience in Hungary, where we have already completed a number of projects,” explains Dr. Lars Friedrich, Head of the Application Technology division at Dürr. This is the first order the company has received from the Chinese carmaker in the passenger car segment.
Dürr Systems AG was successfully audited extensively by BYD before being considered as a supplier.
The painting lines will use Dürr’s latest EcoRP series painting robot, available in both six- and sevenaxis variants for interior and exterior painting. The seven-axis robot offers high precision and flexibility for interior painting, reaching even the most difficult to access areas. Six-axis robots will handle exterior painting. The scope of supply also includes the corresponding door, lid, and flap openers as additional aids for the painting process.
EcoBell3 high-speed rotary atomizers ensure flawless painting quality with uniform shade, flow, and layer thickness. When combined with the associated cleaning equipment and color change technology, the atomizer family minimizes paint and solvent consumption and enables fast color changes within the cycle time. In future, BYD will also be able to sustainably implement customers’ special color requests using Dürr’s standardized, modular EcoSupply P paint supply system with pigging technology. The ”pigs” – which are what the fitting bodies matched exactly to the internal diameter of the hoses are called – push paint to the color changer and return any leftover paint back into the paint container, leaving absolutely no trace of residue and eliminating the need for cleaning. This process reduces both paint and the rinsing agent consumption, benefiting both budget and the environment.
The supply scope also includes cleaning robots that remove dust and dirt particles from the bodies before painting. Flexible-action feather rollers clean different body shapes efficiently and independently of each other in nearly any combination and order –ideal for BYD’s various NEV types.
Evergreen Sprint, a luxurious and bold forest green, draws inspiration from the iconic British racing green. This timeless hue represents speed, performance, and the legacy of motorsport excellence.
Axalta Coating Systems, a leading global coatings company, announced its 2025 Global Automotive Color of the Year –Evergreen Sprint. This marks the 11th year Axalta has introduced its automotive colour of the year and the second time it has featured a green shade.
Evergreen Sprint is a rich, deep forest green that pays homage to the legendary British racing green, a shade that has graced the finest racing machines and symbolizes speed and performance. While capturing the thrill of motorsport, Axalta’s latest automotive colour of the year also brings a touch of sophistication to sedans and SUVs – making Evergreen Sprint an ideal look for all vehicle types.
“This striking hue revs up our global automotive colour of the year,” said Dan Benton, Global Colour Marketing Director at Axalta. “Evergreen Sprint stands out on the road and evokes the spirit of performance, competition and adventure. The dynamic colour is sure to attract the attention of passionate drivers.”
Axalta’s global team of colour experts have collaborated annually since 2015 to reveal up-and-coming shades for the automotive market. This year’s shade of green was noted by Axalta as an emerging trend. According to Axalta’s Global Automotive 2023 Color Popularity Report1, green is found on approximately two percent of vehicles worldwide.
For further information: www.axalta.com/corporate/en_US/about-axalta/color.html
1 https://www.axalta.com/content/dam/New%20Axalta%20Corporate%20Website/Public/Documents/US/axalta-global-automotive-color-popularity_2023.pdf
Gabriele Lazzari ipcm®
VIV Group continues its evolution through a strong partnership with Chemtec, which, together with plant manufacturer Eurotherm, has developed and installed a new multi-metal pre-treatment system that meets the company’s corrosion resistance and quality certification requirements.
Over the fifteen years that ipcm®_International Paint&Coating Magazine has been published, we have repeatedly emphasised the importance of constantly updating technologies and processes used in painting and coating operations, adapting equipment to the market’s needs, and anticipating the future demands of customers. It is no coincidence that, at the end of our reports’ interviews, many professionals express their desire to continue investing in cuttingedge solutions in order to remain competitive in a sector that presents countless challenges. VIV Group (Bagnoli di Sopra, Padua, Italy), a
company with more than 15 years of experience in powder coating, is no exception. In a previous article, it concluded with the sentence: “In future, we would like to continue to optimise our pre-treatment [...] but also to integrate a new last-generation coating booth.”1
VIV Group, which currently employs more than 40 employees and covers an area of 5,000 m2 housing state-of-the-art surface treatment technologies, has indeed distinguished itself as a combative company looking at the market with an innovative drive to always offer optimum results. In 2019, it complemented its automatic coating line with a new manual plant for large parts intended for the ACE sector, and the following year, it installed a new pre-treatment tunnel by collaborating with Chemtec (Corbetta, Milan, Italy), an expert manufacturer of metal pretreatment solutions. VIV Group has then continued its evolution, focusing on the digitalisation of its operations while continuing to invest in new technologies and equipment.
1 “A Pioneering Nanotechnology Process Based on Phosphorus Compounds for Higher Corrosion Resistance. A innovative process creates a new payoff for VIV Group: Grow Up” in ipcm_International Paint&Coating Magazine no. 62 – March/April 2020
Now, four years later, VIV Group has kept faith with the intentions declared in our previous interview by further optimising its pre-treatment tunnel and process with the consultancy of Chemtec and the technical assistance of Eurotherm, a plant engineering company based in Volpiano (Turin, Italy) that had already upgraded several of the solutions available to this coating contractor.
VIV Group powder-coats iron, steel, aluminium, and cast iron components for the interior and exterior furnishing sector, as well as for large modular gates and fences and for the agricultural, construction, and earthmoving machinery sector, all requiring a high degree of corrosion resistance and aesthetically pleasing finishes. “Our customers operate in different markets and also serve foreign countries, which means that their specifications and requirements in terms of quality and corrosion resistance are high. For all these reasons, we need to collaborate with equally innovative suppliers, which are familiar with these needs and can respond promptly. That is why we relied on Eurotherm to design a manual powder coating plant for large components up to 9,000 x 2,500 x 3,500 mm – that could support the automated line for parts measuring 3,000 x 2,000 x 900 mm – and Chemtec to upgrade our pre-treatment cycle,” says Leonardo Bertipaglia, CEO of VIV Group.
The pre-treatment cycle previously performed three stages to adequately prepare substrates for powder coating. However, to increase the quality of its offer and adapt to market standards, VIV Group also installed an automatic shot blasting machine to pre-treat iron parts used in the agricultural and construction machinery industry and other workpieces requiring this surface preparation step before chemical pre-treatment.
The exit of the spray pre-treatment tunnel, with spray bars for final passivation.
Detail of the nozzles for the application of the Pronortec no-rinse technology.
“We decided to insource this process to optimise time and costs, and we integrated it with our new proprietary KEBORA system, enabling us to monitor process compliance, track orders, and manage everything related to documents, audits, process control, and standardisation. This is key to meeting the ISO 9001 standard’s requirements,” Bertipaglia notes. “However, to receive Qualicoat and Qualisteelcoat certification, we also had to update our pre-treatment cycle.”
Thanks to its well-established collaboration with Chemtec and plant engineering company Eurotherm, at the beginning of 2024, VIV Group therefore embarked on a project to renew its pre-treatment cycle through a solution that would guarantee results in line with customer specifications and enable the company to obtain the Qualisteelcoat certification. The new chemical spray pre-treatment process includes an alkaline degreasing stage, a rinse with mains water, a rinse with osmosis water, and a final cleaning stage with pure osmosis water, followed by the application of the nanotechnology product Pronortec.
“Alkaline degreasing is carried out with a multi-metal chemical solution specifically developed by Chemtec to be compatible with all the different parts coated by VIV Group, whether they are made of iron, hot-dip and Sendzimir galvanised sheet metal, or aluminium,” says Carlo De Alessandri, Business Developer at Chemtec. “We then installed a spray bar at the tunnel exit for a rinsing step with osmosis water, fed directly by a Chemtec osmotiser. Subsequently, the cycle include the Pronortec nanotechnology product based on organic phosphorous nanopolymers, ideal for parts calling for significantly higher paint adhesion and corrosion resistance.”
The pre-treatment cycle ends, if necessary, with the application of the Pronortec no-rinse technology, which Chemtec launched on the market five years ago after two years of research and field trials. Pronortec, which has already been awarded Qualisteelcoat certification, is a product based on organic phosphorous compounds with a very low thickness, capable of forming covalent bonds with the organic polymers of liquid or powder finishes.
“It is easy to apply and manage, since it does not require the client to run daily analysis. The resulting nanocoating is highly hydrophobic because it is free of hydrophilic metals, thus guaranteeing a corrosion resistance ten times higher than that achieved with silane-based nanotechnology pre-treatment processes. Moreover, application is simplified, as we supply a one-component product that can be applied by spraying, dipping, or atomising, as is the case for VIV Group,” explains De Alessandri. “The atomised product is automatically diluted on the spot, so it is always fresh, does not require final rinsing, and ensures consistent quality on all types of metal. The results obtained after adopting the Pronortec process have been excellent.”
Chemtec also supplied the system for producing osmosis water. One of its core businesses is the production of chemicals for the pre-treatment of metals prior to coating and the purification of waste water, but it also designs, installs, and upgrades complete water treatment systems, including osmotisers and demineralisers.
VIV Group already had a 200-litre/hour osmotiser with a two-cylinder water softener and a storage tank with the same capacity. However, with the revamping of the pre-treatment tunnel, the need also arose to modify
the osmosis water circuit and install a 2,000-litre tank so that the system can produce water at night and store it when the plant is inactive.
“The application of pure osmosis water is a critical aspect, just as rinse water quality is a fundamental element for all pre-treatment processes. Chemtec’s system enables us to produce water with a conductivity degree in the order of 10 µS (microsiemens), i.e. much lower than the limit value of 30 µS generally accepted by quality standards in the coating industry,” notes Bertipaglia.
Furthermore, the salt spray tests that Chemtec has periodically carried out for VIV Group have proven this new pre-treatment cycle to be an immediate success. Iron components painted with one coat of Tiger Coatings’ polyester powder easily exceed 750 hours of neutral salt spray resistance, a requirement for Qualisteelcoat certification in the C4H category. At the same time, aluminium parts subjected to the same pretreatment and coating process exceed 1,000 hours of acetic salt spray resistance.
However, the benefits generated by the collaboration with Chemtec are not limited to achieving the maximum quality. In fact, the entire workflow is now digitalised, with information being stored and shared in the cloud and materials and process stages being tracked online through the company’s proprietary KEBORA system, which was developed in-house by a softwarist hired by VIV Group. As a result, when the new pre-treatment cycle was installed in August 2024, the entire process was interconnected to the company’s management system via a PLC that monitors which spray bars are in operation, the consumption of
water and chemicals, and the status of all load bars (custom-made by Feltani Reti2), from the loading phase to the drying one (in the bell oven that also acts as a curing oven); there is also the possibility of setting reminder alarms in case components need to be subjected to blow-off or masking operations and controlling parameters such as cleaning and drying temperature and water conductivity. In addition, Chemtec itself can access all these parameters. Finally, through some cameras installed on the plant, it is also possible to observe the cycle and take photographs in real-time to be attached to a job’s data, to visually check how the parts have been hung and store all parameter and consumption-related data with the related photographic documentation.
2 “VIV Group Continues to Upgrade Its Powder Coating Lines with Custom-Designed Hooks” in ipcm_International Paint&Coating Magazine no. 84 – November/ December 2023
“Chemtec’s added value is its ability to advise and support us step-by-step. For example, our last rinsing tank is equipped with a conductivity meter that can measure the conductivity of the water and signal if it exceeds a certain value. Moreover, thanks to our investment in digitalisation, we can share in real-time all the key parameters of our pre-treatment operations, such as the pH concentration value of the rinse water, so that Chemtec’s technicians can proactively intervene to improve our cycle or prevent any non-conformities, even thousands of kilometres away,” Bertipaglia indicates.
Chemtec positions itself on the market not as a mere supplier of chemical products but as a partner, and its customers can also benefit from a pre- and post-sales consultancy service.
automated powder coating booth with its post-finishing personnel.
Bringing your surface to perfection. Verind offers painting solutions from manual to automatic application, high-quality and easy to integrate.
“When developing new plants or revamping already existing systems, we collaborate with plant manufacturers – in this case with Eurotherm – to optimise the entire process with a pre-treatment chemical product that is well suited to both the characteristics of the machine and the specific needs of the customer, such as chemical compatibility for multi-metal treatments,” says De Alessandri. “With our after-sales consultancy service, we also support our customers through an actual partnership: for example, our laboratory carries out free of charge all the analyses that are required to operate their plants in the best possible way, as we periodically take samples to analyse bath and rinse water.”
“Almost a third of Chemtec’s workforce is employed in our laboratory and is involved in quality control, research and development, analysis, and customer service. During the event to be held on 20 February 2025 (see page 158), we would like precisely to show to both our established partners and potential new customers why Chemtec is a reliable supplier that can guarantee an all-round service, providing high-quality, controlled, and certified products but also scientific-level support through salt spray, mechanical and electrochemical, and ACET tests assessing and monitoring the quality and results achieved by its customers. We want to put our laboratory in the spotlight because it is the real core of our business,” adds Beatrice Turri, the Internal Sales and Marketing Manager of Chemtec.
In 2020, VIV Group also installed a new Siver powder coating booth equipped with two reciprocators with four Nordson guns each and manual pre- and post-finishing stations. The Dual HD dense-phase powder centre provides a high degree of flexibility, decreasing the time required for colour change operations and increasing finishing quality while reducing the amount of paint used and the need for rework. For large components, the manual booth was equipped with a new shot blasting machine from Eurotherm.
“All these investments resulted from our desire to constantly evolve and update our production processes in terms of technology and logistics. After focusing on improving paint application, we have recently acquired seven lithium-powered forklifts and then upgraded our pre-treatment cycle. All these interventions have been carried out in close synergy with our partners, as our philosophy is to rely on experienced and reliable manufacturers and suppliers that can advise us on improving our processes. And we are not stopping there: we are now testing the flexcure TIGER Coatings products, that can cure also at lower temperatures, and intend to install a new coating plant with a pre-treatment tunnel using Chemtec’s Toran 3 cold single-stage technology by next year,” Bertipaglia states.
VIV Group mainly uses TIGER Coatings’ powder coatings because they ensure excellent aesthetics and transfer efficiency. “These quality and powder savings-related characteristics are also recognised by our customers, which often expressly request TIGER Coatings finishes in their specifications. In addition, this company’s stock availability is always consistent and its products are always innovative, such as the TIGER Drylac® 3D Metallics and Dormant Powder Coatings series. The company has colour charts that can fulfil any customer request,” Bertipaglia clarifies.
A further advantage of TIGER Coatings is its TIGERator software program, a significant step forward in powder coating visualisation. Based on previous software that allowed users to upload 3D renderings of their designs and experiment with different colours and finishes, TIGERator offers an even more comprehensive solution. Users can now access an extensive library of objects already uploaded to the platform and apply digital representations of TIGER Drylac® powder coatings with a wide range of colours, effects, and textures.
“Even if we do not have a 3D model of the parts we need to coat, we still use the TIGERator software program (and webshop) and recommend it to our customers since it provides a preview of the finishes we are going to use and allows them to access their technical features easily and quickly, possibly sharing them with all the partners involved in their projects.”
Dan Wu, PhD, Associate TS&D Director, Dow Coating Materials
According to researchers at the University of Maribor a digitalized lab cuts almost 48 percent of the time required to create a new formulation, compared to the analog method. Those time savings support formulators to fail faster, innovate more widely, and achieve a faster time to market. Digital formulation platforms, such as DOW™ Paint Vision, empower researchers to create new solutions in record time, revolutionizing the formulation process.
Paint and coatings formulators face pressures from every corner: increasing customer demands for high-performance surface protection. Tighter environmental regulation. A need to speed production time, drive innovation and deliver new products — all while containing costs.
Despite these growing demands, the formulation process looks a lot like it did 30 years ago, with spreadsheets, notebooks and time-consuming rounds of hands-on testing. The endeavour can span weeks or even months — and involve hundreds of test samples made from dozens of resins, additives, pigments, and catalysts in seemingly infinite combinations.
But what if formulators didn’t have to meet today’s demands with yesterday’s tools?
Vendors, partners, and peers throughout the coatings industry have already embraced the latest technology to gain a competitive advantage. Imagine what could be accomplished with a digital platform backed by data and designed to help accelerate innovation.
The intricacies of paint formulation development in the coatings industry are complex and dynamic. The task of combining over 20 different ingredients into various sheens and tint bases for end-use consumers is no small task. The challenge is further compounded by the need to develop separate product lines to cater to diverse market segments with distinct performance needs that vary by geography, quality level, and end-use application.
The use of data can greatly help in this regard. Machine learning and advanced algorithm models trained on historical formulation data can predict the properties of a new formulation based on the ingredients used. This can save significant time and resources formulators would otherwise spend on physical testing. Another area where a data-driven approach can provide benefits: When performance and cost targets must be balanced while adhering to changing consumer sentiments and government regulations.
Detailed data on the cost and performance of different ingredients can assist in making informed decisions during the formulation development process. Predictive models can also optimize the cost and performance of a formulation, enabling manufacturers to design cost-effective products that meet the required performance standards. Data and data analytics can also help tackle the challenge of reformulating product lines on a routine basis. Data on market trends and competitor strategies can provide valuable insights that can guide the reformulation design idea.
Adopting a data-driven approach is not without its challenges, including data availability, subjectivity reduction, modelling strategy, and customer
deployment and adoption. The complexity of the formulation space presents a significant challenge to modelling strategy as well. Scientists seeking a data-driven strategy for coatings formulation will benefit from investing in the following technologies:
Automation: high-throughput research and automation helps to standardize data collection and increase testing capacity.
Computer vision: these algorithms provide accurate and quantitative assessment of coating appearance, addressing the industry’s reliance on subjective visual assessments.
Advanced modelling: developing advanced modelling techniques that combine empirical knowledge with contextualized historical data offers a practical approach to predictive modelling.
Accessibility: the final hurdle is customer deployment and adoption, which requires translating sophisticated algorithms into an accessible and easy-to-use IT framework and user interface.
While adopting a data-driven approach in the paint formulation process presents significant challenges, the potential for further innovation offers a promising future. The use of data and modern tools can significantly enhance the formulation process, streamline testing and improve the customer experience, revolutionizing the industry.
When paints and coatings are built on this solid foundation of data, the results are more likely to perform in the real world — and at a fraction of the time required by traditional laboratory methods. According to researchers at the University of Maribor a digitalized lab cuts almost 48 percent of the time required to create a new formulation, compared to the analog method. Those time savings support formulators to fail faster, innovate more widely, and achieve a faster time to market. Need to formulate for water sensitivity? UV resistance? Higher sustainability standards? Rather than manually gathering this information through trial and error in the physical lab, digital paint formulation tools balance needs and deliver data-driven solutions tailored to performance and cost requirements.
Industry professionals at every skill level can use digital formulation platforms like DOW™ Paint Vision to formulate new solutions in record time. This digital platform combines decades of insight and expertise with nextgeneration technology in a holistic, userfriendly hub of tools and resources. It connects decades of R&D experience with thousands of data points collected from Dow labs, and merges them with the latest trends in sustainability and end-user needs. Imagine quickly comparing products across a range of attributes, from stain blocking to scrub resistance.
With AI-powered tools, formulators can discover the right binder, dispersant or rheology modifier for their project, compare options, then order a sample and try it out.
Built and backed by Dow scientists, DOW™ Paint Vision is a digital service platform that supports users at every step along the way, with rapid access to the latest research, product samples, training resources and more, including:
This tool empowers formulators to design highperformance paints that comply with various formulation performance targets, leveraging Dow’s technical knowledge and expertise.
DOW™ Paint Vision’s state-of-the-art Product Selector enables ingredients comparison, offers a one-stop-shop for technical data, and allows customers to order a sample with only a few clicks. The Product Selector allows products to be selected by regional availability for global supply chain planning.
One of the biggest challenges that formulators face is education. This online, curated collection of more than 100 self-paced education videos helps new hires get up to speed in the lab. It also expands the technical knowledge of more tenured scientists. Covering everything from resins and additives to architectural and industrial coatings, it’s the go-to resource for scientists to learn directly from industry experts.
It allows formulators to take the guesswork out of creating safe, long-lasting, high-performance formulations that also reduce environmental impact. The OpTiO2nizer™ tool offers an instant way to decrease the amount of titanium dioxide in any formulation — driving down both carbon emissions and costs.
DOW™ Paint Vision was launched in early 2022 and has expanded globally, winning the 2023 ICIS Innovation Award in the Best Digital Innovation category and the 2023 BIG Innovation Award in the Product Technology category.
Paint formulation is a complex, technical process — one that hasn’t changed much in decades. To remain competitive and drive innovation, formulators must embrace the digital future with data-driven tools that automate tasks and save time. However, simply digitizing scientific procedures that have long been traditionally manual in nature is not as simple as it sounds. The journey to a digital lab is a multi-step process that requires a sound strategy. Formulators face significant investments in time, resources and technology to create this new reality. There’s no need to face the digital future alone. By combining powerful data and decades of knowledge, digital coatings formulation platforms are a valuable partner in this transformation, breaking down obstacles so that formulators can spend more time innovating.
New and seasoned scientists can brush up on technical knowledge or dive into features such as the problem-solving series in which Dow scientists discuss how to address common difficulties in coatings, from water sensitivity to film integrity.
Ilaria Paolomelo ipcm®
As a company specialising in the chrome plating and coating of high-end lighting and furnishing components, Veneta Cromature has always focused on innovation to meet the demands of a constantly evolving market. To continue to guarantee the highest product quality and use stateof-the-art technology, it recently chose Verona Impianti to install a new liquid coating plant.
Lighting has always played a key role in creating the right atmosphere for any room, up to becoming an undisputed protagonist in contemporary interior design. In a world where functionality merges with aesthetics, chandeliers are no longer just objects providing light but actual design elements that enhance the quality of spaces, adding elegance and personality. Over the last few years, in line with trends in furnishing accessories, metal has gained a prominent place in the field of light design – by which the lighting industry is now referred to –thus turning from an industrial, robust material into a versatile and refined element. Far removed from the typical image of rigid, heavy metals, this raw material can now be refined, modelled, and processed to create delicate, subtle, and light shapes that come to life in the most sophisticated lighting fixtures. In its many variants (stainless, satin, polished, lacquered, and embossed), steel in particular adapts to different styles and combinations, especially when combined with materials such as wood or glass, offering endless decorative possibilities.
Electroplating and coating, with their ability to protect metals and enhance their aesthetics, are the driving force behind this evolution, as chrome-plated, gold-plated, and satin finishes have become the highest expression of quality and attention to detail. Treated with advanced technology, metal surfaces transform aesthetically and acquire a new sensory dimension, perfect for all types of furniture, from the most classic to the most modern.
For Veneta Cromature (Castelfranco Veneto, Treviso, Italy), which specialises precisely in chrome plating and coating lighting and furniture items, keeping up with these developments has been a crucial challenge. That is why it recently had to make a real leap in quality, which took the form of the investment in a new coating plant designed and installed by Verona Impianti 2002, a company based in Colognola ai Colli (Verona, Italy) and specialising in the design, construction, and installation of liquid and powder coating systems.
“When we started, we worked mainly for the lighting industry, with small components handmade by skilled workers,” recalls Diego Pizziolo, the owner of Veneta Cromature. Founded in 1980, this company has evolved from an artisan workshop to a benchmark supplier in the field of surface treatments for iron, brass, and steel furniture. In 1994, the installation of an automated electroplating plant marked a turning point, resulting in greater production efficiency and faster deliveries.
At the same time, Veneta Cromature has been able to evolve and diversify its production over the years. While, in the beginning, it dealt exclusively with products for the lighting sector, today its business has completely changed: furniture components account for 70% of it, whereas lighting
technology only accounts for the remaining 30%. This transformation did not happen by chance but resulted from carefully analysing the market and its evolution. Over time, the light design industry has seen a massive relocation of production to countries such as China, whose low labour costs and economies of scale have made it increasingly difficult for European companies to compete on price. Such a shift strongly impacted global trade dynamics, forcing many companies to rethink their production strategies.
Despite having diversified its production, however, Veneta Cromature maintains a leading role in the lighting sector, producing chandeliers that can be defined as authentic works of art, as in the case of the imposing coated steel structures reaching heights of up to 35 metres and worth millions of Euros it designs to meet the needs of exclusive markets, such as the Arab one. “Our strength is being able to adapt to market demands,” Pizziolo emphasises. “With a production capacity ranging from small metal parts weighing just a few grams to monumental pieces weighing over 200 kilos, Veneta Cromature stands out for the impeccable quality of its galvanic treatments – including brass plating, gold plating, chrome plating, white and black nickel plating, copper plating, and burnishing –and its liquid coating cycle.”
“Our process begins with a galvanic treatment consisting of several steps performed by an automated plant,” explains Pizziolo. “The first step is pre-treatment, which is crucial to prepare material surfaces with extreme precision. Then, the components undergo electroplating in galvanic baths. Our 3 metres long and 1.2 metres high tanks are linked to an overhead crane that ensures precise time management in automatic
mode, enabling us to handle a wide range of finishes with up to 50 different variants. To guarantee even higher quality, a preliminary cleaning phase can be integrated, which we entrust to highly specialised external partners; this optional step allows the further refinement of our surface preparation phase.”
After galvanic treatment, the components are dried, and if they must be coated, they are manually hung on the load bars of the coating plant’s overhead conveyor, which takes them to the application booth. “Not all components go through the coating stage. Depending on requirements, they can be coated or uncoated, as in the case of chrome or nickel parts.”
Coating is a crucial step in Veneta Cromature’s production process. Each workpiece requires careful and meticulous processing, especially if subjected to the gold plating process or coating with particularly complex colours. “Any slightest error can compromise the final result. That makes our craftspeople’s skills truly crucial, especially when working with gold, which requires the utmost precision due to its fragility and economic value,” says the owner of Veneta Cromature. Today’s market also shows a growing interest in exclusive finishes such as burnished black and Champagne pale gold, which are very popular in luxury furniture. These treatments not only improve the aesthetic appearance of components but also respond to the growing demand for customised and sophisticated design.
With a plant operating for 14 hours a day in 2 shifts, Veneta Cromature
maintains a constant and flexible production flow, offering numerous standard finishes – including polished, semi-gloss, and matte – but also special colours and finishes tailored to meet specific needs and market trends.
In 2021, this company revolutionised its production process by installing a state-of-the-art coating plant to replace the previous, wholly manual and outdated system. The new solution can handle parts in different sizes, up to 600 mm in width, 3 m in length, and 1.5 m in height, enabling a variety of production applications.
After the operators hang the components to be treated and carry out the necessary masking operations, the monorail overhead conveyor, which is equipped with a splash guard tray to avoid part contamination and moves at an adjustable speed, takes them to the pressurised booth for the manual application of 2K liquid paint through guns supplied by Wagner (Valmadrera, Lecco, Italy). Following the application of the clear coat, the parts reach a dedicated flash-off area before proceeding to the insulated drying oven, specifically designed to ensure uniform paint baking while minimising heat consumption.
“The oven maintains a stable temperature of around 130 °C for half an hour while the workpieces are inside. However, the chain’s speed can always be adjusted according to the components’ size: larger parts may require longer baking times of up to 40 minutes. That is why we expressly requested an oven conceived to easily increase or decrease
the temperature so that it can reach up to 180 °C and then return to standard temperatures depending on the production requirements and time schedules to be met,” Pizziolo explains.
At the end of the drying process, the load bars are finally led to a storage buffer for cooling, thus completing the coating cycle and allowing the operators to carry out the unloading phase in a precise, safe, and controlled manner.
The entire plant, mainly devoted to orders from the furniture industry, is managed via an advanced PLC 4.0 system with a touch screen for complete and customised monitoring of every process stage. It allows adjusting the chain’s speed and checking the progressive clogging of the coating booth’s filters, thus ensuring optimal plant management for any specific production need. The control panel is equipped with seven inverters to balance pressurisation and helps manage the plant precisely and flexibly, adapting it to the various operational requirements.
“The plant is equipped with a pressurised booth, an important innovation to ensure a constant temperature
inside it. This is a key aspect because otherwise, the paint would not adhere properly, and undesirable effects could arise, such as orange peel or iridescence. Thanks to air conditioning, the system can maintain a constant temperature of 23 °C in both summer and winter,” notes Pietro Tamellin, the owner of Verona Impianti 2002.
Albino Tamellin, the co-owner of this plant engineering company together with his son Pietro, emphasises the precision and reliability of the system: “Air is filtered to avoid contamination, as even small amounts of dust can compromise a finish and force Veneta Cromature to paint strip the parts – which can particularly jeopardise their functionality if they are made of brass or copper – and carry out the coating process again, with a significant economic impact.”
“Another innovation is the autonomous generator that produces electricity to power the plant, thus reducing energy costs. This cogeneration system produces electrical and thermal energy to heat the coating plant and the galvanic treatment tanks by recovering heat from the fumes generated in the combustion process of the heat engine, further contributing to energy
From left to right:
The loading area.
The application of the two-component clear coat.
The components are fed into the drying oven after coating.
savings,” Tamellin concludes.
“We required a machine that would enable us to increase our productivity but also meet the highest sustainability and quality standards,” indicates Pizziolo. “An automated system regulates the rotation speed of the booth fan depending on the filters’ clogging degree and alerts us when they need to be replaced, ensuring smooth and efficient operation at all times. In addition, the polymerisation oven’s structure is fully insulated to prevent heat loss, with an air curtain barrier system that optimises energy efficiency: it is also designed to ensure a uniform temperature during the paint baking process while avoiding temperature fluctuations that could compromise the final result, as the air curtains create a barrier that keeps the air filtered and does not disperse heat.”
The partnership with Verona Impianti: a winning choice for innovation and reliability
When it came to choosing a partner for developing its new coating plant, Veneta Cromature opted for Verona Impianti, a company recognised for the quality and reliability of its solutions. “I already knew some of Verona Impianti’s customers and had seen its technology at a competitor’s premises: the plant had been operational for two years without any
problems. So, I played it safe,” says Pizziolo. This decision proved remarkably successful. The new system met and even exceeded expectations. “We have never had any plant problems or downtime. Previously, we had to rework up to 30% of our coated parts, whereas now our rework rate is practically zero, even for complex components intended for the luxury market, such as those in lacquered gold for Saudi Arabia,” Pizziolo concludes. “The system’s installation, which took place in August, required considerable effort, including dismantling the old system and installing the new one in the record time of three weeks. Despite the limited space available, Verona Impianti’s technicians managed both logistics and execution perfectly, designing a truly tailor-made system. They worked impeccably in both the site surveying and machine assembling phases. Their professionalism guaranteed an excellent result for us.”
HIGHLIGHT OF THE MONTH
Edited by Brofind Spa Milano, Italy italy@brofind.com
Brofind
The paint production and surface coatings application sector represents one of the most dynamic and technologically advanced industries, characterized by increasingly high quality standards and growing attention to environmental sustainability. In this context, Brofind Spa stands out as a strategic partner for the design and implementation of advanced solutions in the treatment of industrial emissions into the atmosphere, a crucial aspect for companies wishing to combine production efficiency and respect for the environment.
Brofind Spa is a leading supplier of air purification plants containing VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds), offering thermal and catalytic oxidation technologies, activated carbon filtration, wet abatement, and rotoconcentration.
The plants are designed to meet the specific challenges of the paint and coatings industry, where the use of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) can be a key component in the formulation and application of certain products. OxyTherm® oxidation plants allow the highest purification efficiency to be achieved, in compliance with the most stringent environmental regulations, and can be built in an electric version to meet decarbonization requirements as well.
For the same purpose, rotoconcentration plants, which allow optimization of energy consumption and treatment of fugitive emissions as well, can be combined.
Brofind® can also supply plants for the recovery of solvents used in the paint production process, thanks to distillation processes offering the competitive advantage of being able to reuse the products used in the production process.
One of Brofind®'s strengths is its ability to provide customised solutions. The company works closely with customers to analyse their specific production requirements and design tailor-made systems to ensure maximum performance and integration with existing equipment.
The expertise gained from 30 years of experience worldwide enables the company to identify the most appropriate solutions for any type of production and coating application: from marine to aerospace, automotive, military, furniture, white goods, lighting or steel production.
Sustainability is a fundamental pillar of Brofind®. All our solutions are designed to minimise environmental impact, improve energy efficiency and reduce polluting emissions, while optimising both investment and operating costs.
Our facilities guarantee compliance with the most stringent European and international regulations and are manufactured in accordance with local technical reference standards.
Brofind® activities are carried out in accordance with ISO 9001 and ISO 45001 standards.
Following the evolution of technologies in paint production and coating application, Brofind® continues to invest in research and development to offer increasingly innovative solutions. The transition to more sustainable production processes is a global challenge, but also an opportunity for companies that choose to adopt advanced technologies such as those proposed by Brofind®
Edited by ST Powder Coatings
The LIGHTNING-FREE powder coating series, developed by ST Powder Coatings, prevents electrostatic discharges on a surface and protects all electronic devices placed on it.
Electrostatic discharge (ESD) is the sudden and momentary electric current that flows between two objects at different electrical potentials. The term is usually used in the electronics and other industries to describe momentary unwanted currents that may cause damage to electronic equipment. One of the causes of ESD events is
static electricity. Static electricity is often generated through tribocharging, the separation of electric charges that occurs when two materials are brought into contact and then separated. Examples of tribocharging include walking on a rug, descending from a car, or removing some types of plastic packaging. In all these cases, the friction between two materials results in tribocharging, thus creating a difference of electrical potential that can lead to an ESD event.
ESD is a serious issue in solid state electronics. Integrated circuits are made from semiconductor materials such as silicon and insulating materials such as silicon dioxide. Either of these materials can suffer permanent damage when subjected to high voltages.
Due to dielectric nature of electronics component and assemblies, electrostatic charging cannot be completely prevented during handling of devices. Most of ESD sensitive electronic assemblies and components are also so small that manufacturing and handling is made with automated equipment. After tribocharging people discharge frequently; to feel a discharge, it must be about 3000 volts. But to damage an electronic component, a 100 volts discharge can be enough1 ESD prevention activities are therefore important with those processes where component is touching on equipment surfaces. In addition, it is important to prevent ESD when electrostatic discharge sensitive component is connected with other conductive parts of the product itself. An efficient way to prevent ESD is to use materials that are not too conductive but will slowly conduct static charges away. These materials are called static dissipative and have surface resistivity values in the range 105 - 1012 Ohm.
1 https://www.nationmaster.com/
The Lightning-free series powder coatings are available in epoxy-polyester, epoxy, or polyester solutions, in a wide range of colours, surface finishes, and gloss levels. They are also available in an over-coatable version, where the dissipative properties are not compromised when applying a second layer of the same dissipative coating, while keeping the total thickness below 120 µm.
Materials in automated manufacturing which will touch on conductive areas of ESD sensitive electronic should be made of dissipative material, and the dissipative material must be grounded.
A dissipative powder coatings can help to prevent this annoying and dangerous phenomenon. Due to its characteristics, the surface coated with the dissipative powder coating prevents the static build up saving all the electronic devices on it.
Edited by Assovernici
Assovernici expressed disappointment after the publication of the European Commission’s implementing regulation imposing anti-dumping duties on imports of titanium dioxide (TiO2) from China. TiO2 is a key raw material for paint manufacturers, accounting for up to 40% of raw material costs and 20% of finished product costs. These duties jeopardise the sustainability of the European coating industry, which is worth EUR 33 billion annually and employs around 150,000 people.
Following the decision of the EC to impose anti-dumping duties on imports of titanium dioxide (TiO2) from China, the relevant implementing regulation was recently published in the Official Journal of the European Union.
Assovernici, the association that represents Italy’s main manufacturers of paint products for the construction and industrial sectors, would like to express its disappointment through a new press release pointing out that these duties seriously threaten the competitiveness of many paint manufacturers operating in Italy.
This recent resolution is proof of a short-sighted and biased view of the problem that neglects the actual consequences and impacts on supply chains, the result of an approach far removed from the real economy. In fact, Chinese titanium will continue to play a leading role, without any duty-related constraints, in the distribution in Europe of the paints manufactured by companies (primarily multinationals) that produce outside the EU; and, again with non-European origin, it will also do so in the form of semi-finished products. Especially in Italy, this will harm the economy of small and medium-sized enterprises, which operate exclusively in Italy and constitute the economic fabric of this Country. These conclusions are based on several upstream considerations. First of all, titanium dioxide plays a primary role for the entire industry, and its taxation will inevitably lead to a knock-on inflationary effect in a stagnant market as well as an increase in costs. TiO2 is a fundamental and widely used component in the coatings sector: for example, it is utilised in construction products and in particular in building paints, in the coating
of cars and other vehicles, in the nautical and yachting sectors, and in metal packaging. Known for its high refractive index, this white pigment is characterised by its ability to offer excellent opacity, ensuring optimal surface coverage. In addition to this, titanium dioxide plays a crucial role in UV protection, preserving the integrity and durability of coatings. Currently, there are no alternatives available to replace it. It is therefore important to emphasise that the cost of titanium dioxide accounts for a significant part of the total cost for the raw materials used in coating formulation, thus accounting for up to 40% of the cost of paint products. Given this premise, it is not difficult to imagine the extent to which the recently approved duties will threaten the downstream sectors and the viability of the paint industry, which in the EU is worth as much as EUR 33 billion per year and employs more than 150,000 people. The taxation of this Chinese product will heavily affect an already struggling market and will inevitably lead to an increase in the costs of coating products.
“With this decision, Member States have expressed a clear preference for a few large global manufacturers of TiO2 over the numerous downstream users in the EU. The companies they say they want to protect most –smaller firms catering for the local EU market – will be the most affected, and many of them may not survive,” stated Christel Davidson, Managing Director of CEPE (European Council of the Paint, Printing Ink, and Artists’ Colours Industry), a network of which Assovernici is a member.
An actual danger is also posed by the potential opening of the European market to the import of paint solutions that are more competitive than those produced within the continent because they are formulated with Chinese TiO2 that is not subject to anti-dumping duties. At an international level, coatings made in Europe will eventually lose attractiveness and market shares.
Lastly, let us highlight the contradiction that is about to take shape now that the regulation has been approved: large global TiO2 producers will benefit to the detriment of the real economy of the local hubs and users operating downstream in the supply chain. “Paint manufacturers in the EU will find themselves at a competitive disadvantage compared to manufacturers in other parts of the world, who can continue sourcing TiO2 from China at lower prices and sell their paints on the EU market,” Davidson said. “This is an unfortunate outcome for a measure meant to shield Europeans from unfair foreign competition. We call on Member States or the European Commission to carry out an immediate review.”
industrial coating plants impianti di verniciatura industriale
spray booths for car body shop cabine di spruzzatura per carrozzeria
sandblasting booths cabine di sabbiatura
all the load-bearing structures of our coating plants are realised in aluminium tutte le strutture portanti dei nostri impianti di verniciatura sono in alluminio
industrial coating booths cabine di verniciatura
YOU CAN SEE MORE THAN 1000 PHOTOS AND VIDEOS
Edited by Bloomberg Philanthropies and the City Council of Fort Collins Fort Collins, U.S.A.
The Asphalt Art Initiative responds to the growing number of cities around the world embracing art as an effective and relatively low-cost strategy to activate their streets: while cities incorporate art into public spaces in a variety of ways, it focuses on the visual interventions on roadways, pedestrian spaces and vertical infrastructure.
The Bloomberg Philanthropies association works to ensure better and longer lives for the greatest number of people by focusing on five key areas: the arts, education, the environment, government innovation and public health. Encompassing all of Mike Bloomberg’s giving, Bloomberg Philanthropies includes his foundation, corporate and personal philanthropy as well as Bloomberg Associates – a pro bono consultancy that works with mayors in cities around the world. Within this framework, the Asphalt Art Initiative led by Bloomberg Philanthropies responds to the growing number of cities around the world embracing art as an effective and relatively low-cost strategy to activate their streets. As a matter of fact, while cities incorporate art into public spaces in a variety of ways, the focus of the initiative is asphalt art: visual interventions on roadways (intersections and crosswalks), pedestrian spaces (plazas and sidewalks) and vertical infrastructure (utility boxes, traffic barriers and underpasses).
Released in March 2022, the Asphalt Art Safety Study1 conducted by Sam Schwartz Consulting in partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies has in fact showcased that city streets with asphalt art became considerably safer for pedestrians after incorporating art into roadway redesigns. The Asphalt Art Initiative grants then programmes and supports projects that demonstrate the impact of asphalt art and encourage cities to develop their own processes for implementing these low-cost activations effectively. The previous grant rounds supported more than ninety projects in North America and Europe, that have been installed between 2020 and 2024. Now, the applications are currently open for cities in Canada, Mexico and the United States of America with populations at least 50,000 inhabitants.
1 https://assets.bbhub.io/dotorg/sites/43/2022/04/Asphalt-Art-Safety-Study.pdf
Asphalt art at Trenton (New Jersey) - Dangerous conflicts decreased by 15%
‘Stepping Into Tomorrow’ is a creative reimagining of the public space in front of the Trenton Transit Center train station through installation of asphalt art at the intersection, vinyl banners throughout the space and a bike rack. The Center is one of the busiest train stations in the Northeast of the U.S.A. and is considered a major gateway into the city of Trenton. Although the station is within walking distance of the historic Mill Hill neighbourhood as well as City- and State-owned offices and local businesses in downtown Trenton, many choose not to walk or bike to the Trenton Transit Center station because in its current state the route is not welcoming.
The local nonprofit association Artworks Trenton issued a request for proposal (RFP) and commissioned three semi-finalists to create designs for the crosswalk project. Following a virtual public presentation, the
design presented by George Bates was selected and planning quickly took place for road closures, materials and community involvement. During over sixteen hours, Bates along with a team of artists, community members, students and volunteers installed the final crosswalk artwork for ‘Stepping Into Tomorrow.’
“I had been looking to more directly incorporate the local community into a project, and the relationships Artworks had within the area, and their exceptional team, were perfect for this endeavour. One of my favourite moments from the install day was the emotion and enthusiasm a mother had for the project while watching her young son paint his own portrait into the piece. The goal is always to have a community experience their own sense of ownership of a site-specific public art work, and when they do there’s nothing better than that. As Art is a thoughtful reflection, and a thoughtful reflection is an act of kindness. I like to think there is more kindness at the intersection now,” has commented Bates.
The finished design includes ten silhouettes of students within the Trenton community, ranging from elementary school to college-aged, representing a passing of the torch to this next generation and future leaders as they step into tomorrow. In conjunction with the asphalt art project, Artworks partnered with NJ Transit and the state Arts Council on an open call for local artists to install banners and a bike rack at the site. After six artists were selected, their own “Stepping Into Tomorrow” creations were installed.
“The Trenton Transit Center station is the 7th busiest transit stop on the Northeast corridor with convenient access to bus, light rail and train service. Improving the visibility of the intersection slows down vehicular traffic and enhances pedestrian safety for the thousands of commuters that traverse this area every day. Potentially dangerous conflicts between drivers and pedestrians crossing the street decreased by 15%,” has declared Dan Fatton, the Chair of the City of Trenton Planning Board.
Every Asphalt Art project represents the story of that individual community: the past, present and future of the people who call that neighbourhood their home. The city council of Fort Collins (Colorado) wanted to reduce vehicle speeds and bicycle and pedestrian-related accidents at a five-point intersection in the heart of downtown. The installation of curb extensions with plastic marker posts might have accomplished the mission of narrowing of vehicular travel lanes,
shortening pedestrian crossing distances and improving sightlines. But citizens also liked the idea di celebrate the neighbourhood and its legacy. “I then embarked on a trip to the Fort Collins Museum of Discovery to research in its archives the namesakes of the streets: Magnolia, Canyon and Sherwood. Sherwood is in fact the name of the ‘Indian Agent’ appointed by Abraham Lincoln, who worked closely Arapaho Chief Friday/ Warshinun, who was fluent in English and travelled to Washington D.C. to advocate for Native People’s rights and translate for fellow natives. His efforts to secure land for his people in Colorado never came to fruition, but I wanted to honour its efforts by including the black-tipped feathers like the one worn in the artwork. For Magnolia Street’s namesake this design uses the non-native magnolias to represent settlers overtaking the indigenous peoples. Finally for Canyon Avenue, the wavy blue lines are representative of the moving waters of the Cache La Poudre River running from the canyon through the city” has declared Jess Bean, who led the asphalt art project.
The curb-extensions, totalling approximately 1,500 m2, were defined by traffic striping, plastic delineator posts, asphalt artworks and ADA compliant infrastructure. Using these applications together allowed to reclaim a large expanse of asphalt for pedestrian refuge, reduce traffic speeds and ignite neighbourhood centres. Moreover, dramatically reworking the intersection geometry by converting a five-point intersection into a four-way intersection and a separate T intersection also improved sightlines for road users and addressed long-standing concerns of right-of-way confusion.
The strength of Europolveri products does not derive from the sole mixture of carefully selected raw materials, but rather from the people who study, model and formulate powder coatings thanks to more than 40 years of experience, and provide customers with the best solutions on the market A clear corporate philosophy and a shared vision have allowed to supply a vast range of products for three generations With more than 1000 products available in stock and over 40,000 already formulated, Europolveri offers infinite solutions to customer requests
Edited by ipcm®
In the surface treatment industry, trade fairs and events are essential opportunities to stay updated on the latest innovations, forge strategic partnerships, and expand professional networks. However, navigating the multitude of global trade fairs can be a daunting task for professionals. The fragmentation of information, overlapping dates, and lack of a comprehensive overview make it challenging to identify the most relevant events and efficiently plan one’s schedule. To address this need, an innovative web app has been developed to index all major trade fairs in the surface treatment sector. This tool aims to simplify the lives of professionals by providing a complete and organized overview of events, along with features designed to optimize time management and maximize business opportunities.
world of trade fairs has completely reinvented itself, taking advantage of digitalisation and creating occasions where they did not exist before. Based on these reasons, we can safely say that trade fairs are still very important for fostering business relationships and promote a brand image and values.
The consequence of this renewed interest in trade fairs is that events, particularly in the past two post-pandemic years, have multiplied, polarizing between a few international events that serve as the mustattend gatherings for the global industry on one hand, and numerous small, fragmented local events aimed at nurturing proximity relationships on the other.
The result? A significant challenge in navigating the plethora of fairs and conferences and organizing a visit or exhibition schedule, especially since attending them all is simply not feasible.
Today’s world is marked by sudden and unpredictable changes and moving at a rapid pace towards an increasingly digital ecosystem. This led us to rethink our annual Trade Show Calendar, listing the main events to be held in the surface treatment industry. We chose to better meet the sector’s need by approaching our calendar in a new way and transforming what was previously a digital and printed brochure into a web app accessible from any device: myFAIR.
A web app is a versatile tool that can be accessed from both desktop and mobile devices, which does not require downloading from the store. Nevertheless, it is possible to create a shortcut directly in the smartphone menu, making access to the app quick and easy.
myFAIR is therefore a free, up-to-date, and highly interactive tool at the service of professionals in the surface treatment industry (and beyond) for the organisation of their trade fair agenda, both as exhibitors and visitors. Through the myFAIR web app, users can browse, filter, add to favourites, trigger alerts, and get up-to-date information on the world’s most important events happening in the industrial finishing sector.
myFAIR is a web app launched by ipcm® at the end of 2022 to offer its community a tool to stay up-to-date with all major events happening in the surface treatment industry. For years, we have been debating whether exhibitions are still a useful tool or companies looking for new customers. In the last 10 years, the
The Fairs section shows all trade fairs in alphabetical order. The list can be filtered by country and category. It is also possible to type the name of an exhibition directly into the search bar for even faster access to information on a particular event.
Tapping on the name of a trade fair takes the user to the specific tab for that event, with up-to-date information on dates, location, focus, and website. From here, it is also possible to get directions to the event location directly on Google Maps and add the trade fair to favourites, in order to receive alerts in case of new updates. There is also a list of related trade fairs by sector.
The Schedule section allows filtering the trade fairs by month and year. This is an easy way to organise one’s schedule on a monthly basis and check which exhibitions are going to be held in a particular month with a few touches. Here, too, it is possible to apply additional country and product category filters.
The Suppliers’ section presents a list of suppliers of various services that revolve around the world of trade fairs: from catering to stand construction, from translations to hostess and steward services, from communication to digital printing, from gadget creation to logistics. Companies can be filtered according to the services offered and a simple tap takes the user to a detailed tab with the main contact information.
myFAIR it is not only a useful tool for organising ones’ own trade fair calendar. It also offers an interesting opportunity for companies to promote themselves to a highly specialised target group, under the aegis of the prestigious ipcm® brand.
The providers of services for exhibitors have a dedicated section where they can upload their company profile and contact information.
Exhibitors, visitors, and trade fair organisations can rely on three display advertising options to promote their business.
Edited by BASF
The Color Report for Automotive OEM Coatings by BASF Coatings offers an in-depth exploration of colour trends in the automotive industry, analysing preferences on both global and regional levels. The colour distribution referred to in the report was calculated by BASF Coatings on the basis of the available information regarding global automotive production and paint application to passenger cars.
In 2024, the global automotive colour landscape continued to evolve as consumers move away from traditional favourites like white and silver. This shift is paving the way for increased popularity of vibrant hues, warm neutrals, and a more diverse palette across the industry, as stated by BASF Coatings in the latest Color Report for Automotive OEM Coatings. Specifically, while white remains the top choice among consumers, warm shades such as yellow and beige are increasingly appealing, and green has risen in popularity across all regions. Achromatic colours like black and grey are also gaining traction.
EMEA: Beige gains popularity as achromatic colours continue steady growth
Achromatic colours in the EMEA region have steadily increased from 72% in 2021 to almost 80% in 2024, underscoring the appeal of neutral tones. White remains the most favoured colour, closely followed by grey. Notably, beige is gaining popularity, nearly doubling its market share.
“Beige and neutral colours evoke a sense of calm and sophistication, reflecting the desire for stability in a fast-paced world,” said Mark Gutjahr, global head of Automotive Colour Design at BASF. “They allow consumers to express their individuality while ensuring a timeless elegance in automotive design.”
Americas: Grey is proving to be one of the most versatile and captivating colours
With its vast range of tones, from cool metallics to warm, earthy shades, grey offers depth and sophistication that can be surprisingly vibrant. This year’s colour distribution reveals a striking shift toward grey tones, now capturing almost 20% of the total market share. Black has dropped by 2 percentage points compared to 2023, while white cars have seen an even more significant decline of 5 percentage points.
“Grey is redefining automotive style, gaining popularity for its versatile sophistication as preferences shift away from traditional white and black,” said Victoria Fislage, Senior Design Manager at BASF Coatings.
Achromatic colours remain the top choice for 83% of consumers, with black gaining 2 percentage points in popularity, reinforcing its association with elegance. In contrast, white has seen a decline of over 2 points.
Meanwhile, chromatic colours, particularly yellow, are on the rise, with softer tones like pastel and greige yellow leading the way. These shades resonate with themes of AI-human harmony and sustainability, especially in electric vehicle design. Those are reflecting a shift toward harmonious, optimistic colour palettes.
“Earthy and pastel yellows capture today’s values – functionality, sustainability, and coexistence with nature,” said Chiharu Matsuhara, head of Automotive Colour Design for Asia Pacific.
By PANTONE LLC
Carlstadt (New Jersey), United States
It is an engaging and captivating shade of brown, the new Colour of the Year developed by Pantone for 2025: PANTONE 17-1230 Mocha Mousse.
Pantone, the global colour authority and provider of professional colour language standards and digital solutions for the design community, introduced PANTONE 17-1230 Mocha Mousse, an evocative soft brown that transports our senses into the pleasure and deliciousness it inspires as the Pantone Colour of the Year selection for 2025. A warming rich brown hue, PANTONE 17-1230 Mocha Mousse nurtures with its suggestion of the delectable quality of cacao, chocolate and coffee, appealing to our desire for comfort.
“Underpinned by our desire for every day pleasures, PANTONE 17-1230 Mocha Mousse expresses a level of thoughtful indulgence” says Leatrice Eiseman, Executive Director Pantone Color Institute. “Sophisticated and lush, yet at the same time an unpretentious classic, this tone extends our perceptions of the browns from being humble and grounded to embrace aspirational and luxe. Infused with subtle elegance and earthy refinement, the new Pantone colour presents a discrete and tasteful touch of glamour. A flavourful brown shade, it envelopes us with its sensorial warmth.” There is a growing movement to align ourselves more closely with the natural world. Characterized by its organic nature, PANTONE 17-1230 Mocha Mousse honours and embraces the sustenance of our physical environment. Imbued with authenticity it finds harmony and balance between the demands of modernity and the timeless beauty of artful creation.
“The everlasting search for harmony filters through into every aspect of our lives including our relationships, the work we do, our social connections and the natural environment that surrounds us. Harmony brings feelings of contentment, inspiring a positive state of inner peace, calm, and balance as well as being tuned in with the world around us. Harmony embraces a culture of connection and unity as well as the synthesis of our mental, spiritual and physical well-being,” added Laurie Pressman, Vice President of the Pantone Color Institute. “With that in mind, for Pantone Colour of the Year 2025 we look to a colour that reaches into our desire for comfort and wellness, and the indulgence of simple pleasures that we can gift and share with others.”
In celebration of the 26th anniversary of Pantone Colour of the Year, Pantone will also for the first time highlight the colour in events and experiences all over the world. From London and New York to Shanghai and Mumbai, Pantone showcased public spaces and colour events that will make the Pantone Colour of the Year 2025 accessible to all. Pantone’s first stop on its international tour was its official unveil partner — the lastminute.com London Eye. In a world-first for Pantone, the iconic attraction revealed the Pantone Colour of the Year 2025 by lighting up the London skyline in PANTONE 17-1230 Mocha Mousse. The Pantone Colour of the Year light show was live for the public to view on December 5th and shone brightly throughout the evening for everyone to enjoy. On the same
day, BMW and Pantone celebrated the launch of the Colour of the Year in New York with the presentation of the 2025 MINI Cooper Convertible, available at dealerships from January 2025, showcased in the shade of PANTONE 17-1230 Mocha Mousse.
In interior design this evocative rich brown infused with sensorial warmth evokes a feeling of the comfort of home whether appearing on flooring or a painted wall, within home décor or in more natural materials including wood and stone, rattan and wicker, leather and linen. In packaging and multimedia design, seemingly tactile and touchable PANTONE 17-1230 Mocha Mousse warmly welcomes, inviting consumers to reach out and engage, making it an enticing shade for a variety of products from food and beverage to cosmetics and any product made with natural ingredients or dedicated to wellness.
In the realm of fashion accessories, the adaptable and neutral tone of Mocha Mousse blends effortlessly with any colour, enriching each outfit with a touch of warmth and refined luxury: eyewear, structured bags and metallic jewellery in PANTONE 17-1230 Mocha Mousse, introduce an elevated sophistication. With gloss or matte finishes, the soft, pinkish warmth of PANTONE 17-1230 Mocha Mousse is beautifully revealed as the colour interacts with light. In clothing, this new colour is infused with
a sensorial warmth that comes through in soft touch weaves, buttery leathers and suedes, cushy velvets, cashmere, angora and shaggy, furry knits that envelope and embrace. At the same time with its lightweight appearance, PANTONE 17-1230 Mocha Mousse lends itself equally to diaphanous and floaty chiffons, silky textures, satins and jersey fabrics that add fluidity and draped elegance. Finally, for beauty products, the warm glow of this soft brown awakens the inherent radiance of individual skin tones across a wide variety of undertones, highlighting the desire for unpretentious authentic beauty and minimalist looks tied to simplicity. This versatile shade that works well in matte and sheen applications lends itself to blending with many other colours and serves as the perfect base layer for metallic gloss finishes.
Being an official partner of Pantone means the ability to incorporate the new colour shades into one’s products or creations. From Motorola smartphones to interior décor with Joybird fabrics, from Pura’s home fragrances to Wix Studio’s web design resource collection, from the artistic compositions of Spoonflower and Society6 to the sophisticated headphones by Libratone, Ipsy’s beauty box, and Ultrafabrics textiles, the range of products ‘coated’ with Pantone’s Colour of the Year expands every year.
The sensory perception of colour is fundamental not only for fabrics and
Scan the QR Code to delve deeper into the sensory experience of Pantone Colour of the Year 2025
home furnishings but also for the most technologically advanced devices. Each year, Motorola releases renditions of devices that embody the Pantone Colour of the Year meaning. Chosen to represent PANTONE 171230 Mocha Mousse globally, the motorola razr 50 ultra/motorola razr+ is bold and tasteful. Its iconic, flippable design gives users a dose of feelgood nostalgia while making a statement. And its massive external display lets them create and collaborate as much or as little as they want. The motorola edge 50 neo follows suit with a durable yet harmonious design that is secure yet luxe. It’s the perfect fusion between art and technology, creating a balanced smartphone experience that charms and delights. Both devices feature a vegan leather inlay embedded with coffee grounds. The coffee grounds perfectly match the colour, creating a warm and comforting essence. This contributes to the sensory nature of the colour and encourages users to partake in self-care or whatever feels good to them in that moment. The Pantone Colour of the Year 2025 phones will be available in January 2025. The partnership with LIBRATONE is particularly noteworthy, as it carries PANTONE 17-1230 Mocha Mousse within the elegant design of the UP headphones, harmoniously integrating colour into form. This triggers a unique emotional connection between music, our living environment, and social relationships. When a comfortable wearing experience, balanced sound expression and harmonious colour presentation interact, we believe that our sensitivity to the environment and creativity in life will burst forth from the depths of our souls.
This recognition highlights the company’s dedication to reducing environmental impact, safeguarding human and labour rights, prioritizing safety, and upholding a responsible and ethical supply chain.
Elementis is delighted to announce that it has been awarded the EcoVadis Gold Rating for the fourth consecutive year. This esteemed recognition underscores the company’s unwavering commitment to sustainability and ethical business operations. By achieving this award, Elementis reinforces its determination to:
Minimise its environmental impact.
Protect human and labour rights.
Ensure workplace safety.
Maintain a responsible and transparent supply chain.
Conduct business in adherence to the highest ethical standards.
“Achieving EcoVadis Gold for the fourth-year running is a great result, reflecting the continued hard work and dedication of the teams across Elementis to continuously improve our sustainability-related impacts,” has stated Phil Blakeman, Global Director of Sustainability.
LANXESS achieved top sustainability ratings in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index Europe, ISS ESG, MSCI ESG and Gold Status from EcoVadis.
LANXESS has recently secured top rankings in multiple prestigious sustainability assessments. In the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) Europe, the specialty chemicals company ranked first in the Chemicals category with a score of 79 out of 100 points. Globally, LANXESS achieved 4th place in the DJSI World, excelling in areas such as climate strategy, water management, corporate ethics, human rights, and product stewardship.
“The excellent scores we have achieved in various sustainability ratings reflect our unwavering commitment to sustainable business practices. They show that we take our responsibility to the environment, society and good corporate governance seriously,” has stated Hubert Fink, member of the Board of Management at LANXESS.
In November, the rating agency MSCI ESG reaffirmed LANXESS’ AA rating for the fourth consecutive year, positioning the company among the highest-rated in the Commodity & Diversified Chemical industry. MSCI ESG evaluates companies on their ability to manage environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks. The same month, ISS ESG upgraded
LANXESS’ rating from B- to B (on a scale from A+ to D-), confirming its prime status. This recognition places LANXESS among the best-rated companies in the chemical industry, with ISS ESG assessing nearly 100 industry-specific indicators. Additionally, LANXESS earned a gold-level sustainability rating from EcoVadis, ranking in the top 5% of over 100,000 companies evaluated. The EcoVadis assessment helps businesses measure the sustainability performance of their partners.
Clariant achieves a 100% PFAS-free additive portfolio with solutions like Ceridust™ 8170 M and AddWorks™ PPA, supporting sustainability and compliance with upcoming global regulations.
Clariant has completed its transition to a fully per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)-free additive portfolio as of December 2023, reaffirming its commitment to more sustainable and customer-focused innovation. As the world looks toward stricter regulations on PFAS substances, Clariant’s proactive measures demonstrate both foresight and a deep dedication to fostering safer, more responsible solutions for industries globally.
Clariant’s shift to PFAS-free additives reflects the company’s deep understanding of its customers’ needs and its ongoing commitment to environmental stewardship. By eliminating PFAS from its entire additive portfolio, Clariant offers customers sustainable alternatives without compromising on performance. This bold move ensures that Clariant’s clients can confidently meet evolving regulatory requirements and align with global trends towards more eco-friendly manufacturing practices.
Well ahead of looming regulatory deadlines, Clariant’s transition to PFASfree additives, completed in December 2023, underscores the company’s readiness to address the growing global demand for sustainable solutions. By being ahead of schedule, Clariant not only safeguards the environment but also ensures that its customers can adapt swiftly to upcoming regulations without disruption.
Clariant’s innovative product portfolio features groundbreaking PFAS-free solutions such as Ceridust 8170 M, a Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE)-free texturing agent for powder coatings that offers superior performance with lower energy usage compared to PTFE containing products.
This innovation supports our customers in achieving Scope 1 emission reductions while realizing significant cost savings. Additionally, the newly launched AddWorks PPA line of polymer processing aids enables melt fracture control, efficient extrusion and optimal film quality, while meeting the need for more environmentally sustainable additives and ensuring compliance with stringent environmental regulations in this application area. Stefan Brejc, Global Vice President Segment Coatings & Adhesives, emphasizes Clariant’s innovative approach, stating: “Our commitment to greater chemistry drives us to continuously develop sustainable solutions that reduce environmental impact while meeting the performance demands of our customers. The PFAS-free additive portfolio is the result of years of dedicated research and collaboration with our partners.”
Miao Zhigang, Global Vice President Segment Polymer Solutions, adds: “We believe in delivering tomorrow’s solutions today. By eliminating PFAS, we are not just addressing current regulations but also anticipating future needs in the industry, ensuring that our customers stay competitive and responsible.”
Clariant is expanding its portfolio of sustainable innovations, with a growing pipeline of PFAS-free products and impactful initiatives designed to drive meaningful engagement with customers. Through a series of digital experiences and strategic collaborations, Clariant will be providing essential product insights and exclusive updates.
© Clariant/ generated with AI
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been a major point of concern for industries worldwide due to their persistence in the environment and potential health risks. As regulatory bodies implement stricter controls on the use of PFAS, industries are seeking safer alternatives. Clariant’s decisive action to eliminate PFAS aligns with these global efforts, positioning the company as a leader in reducing environmental and health risks while driving industry-wide change toward more sustainable practices.
This innovative facility is part of a multi-million-euro initiative to expand and modernise AkzoNobel’s global network of over 40 Automotive Training Centres.
The paints and coatings supplier AkzoNobel has installed one of the automotive industry’s first hydrogen-powered spray booths at its new training center near Brussels (Belgium).
The new spray booth is designed to exceed both local and regulatory standards, showcasing how adopting advanced technologies can drive more sustainable operations. The facility is 30% larger than its predecessor and has been built to achieve BREEAM certification –thus reinforcing AkzoNobel’s dedication to cutting carbon emissions throughout the entire value chain by 2030.
“The industry of the future requires painters of the future who are fully conversant with the latest technologies and techniques. By increasing the size of our Belgian facility by almost a third, we can accommodate more technology, such as the new spray booth, and train more people. We’ll be able to show bodyshop personnel how the latest technologies can reduce carbon emissions, lower drying times and consume less energy,
helping to drive the industry in a more sustainable direction,” has stated Patrick Bourguignon, Director of the company’s Automotive and Specialty Coatings business.
Moreover, the hydrogen-powered combi spray booth is fully equipped for conventional repairs and features an integrated all-in-one workstation. It includes an advanced air filtration system that uses active carbon to filter volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released during coating. Additionally, a HEPA filtration system ensures clean air (up to 99% purity) is safely returned to the atmosphere.
AkzoNobel’s ATCs offer a diverse range of training programs, covering application techniques, product and system training, and new digital color processes. The programs focus heavily on improving quality and processes, as well as specialized repairs for radar-capable and nextgeneration electric vehicles.
“By further upskilling painters, bodyshop managers and OEM engineers on a new generation of coatings and technologies, we can help them improve operational efficiency and reduce their own carbon emissions. The investments we’re making in our ATCs will therefore address a growing global skills shortage, while also helping us set a new benchmark for sustainable practices in our industry,” has added Patrick Bourguignon.
Edited by ipcm®
Timecore offers integrated solutions for the design and realisation of trade fair spaces, from customised stand creation and complete logistical management to computer graphics services to produce real and 3D video content that enriches visitor experience. With an innovative approach, it transforms spaces into immersive environments that tell the story of brands and encourage interaction with visitors. These features have made it a trusted partner for many surface treatment companies to exhibit at international events.
In the exhibition industry, stand design is key to success. A welldesigned stand not only catches the eye but also reflects a company’s identity and values, creating a lasting first impression. In a crowded environment such as a trade fair, where businesses compete for attention, a stand must stick out, stimulate the public’s interest, clearly communicate the brand’s image, vision, and values, and above all, emphasise the worth of products. The design of spaces and the use of colours and graphic elements are essential to attract visitors and foster a deep connection with the company. Innovative design can even transform a stand into an interactive experience thanks to technologies such as LED walls and augmented reality. A well-designed and well-crafted stand also conveys professionalism.
In this context, Timecore (Monza, Italy) is the preferred partner for many companies operating in the surface treatment sector because it designs stands capable of putting even industrial products that are not easily appealing in the spotlight.
Timecore is distinguished by a broad and articulated offer including:
Creative design: each stand is custom-designed considering the sector, the communication objectives, the specific needs, and, of course, the budget. This approach results in solutions that are not only functional but also highly appealing.
Production and realisation: it uses state-of-the-art materials and modern technology to create durable, functional, and visually appealing stands.
Logistics: transport, assembly, disassembly, and technical support during set-up and, if required, during the event.
Computer graphics: highly creative and effective visual solutions, including video shooting, post-production, and computer graphics.
3D rendering and animation: useful to visualise complex objects, such as mechanical and industrial components, in detail, from different angles, and even showing their individual components. 3D animations are an indispensable tool for presenting one’s products at a stand without physically bringing them to the trade fair. Videos can be created
specifically for an exhibition to be projected on TVs or LED walls, which the customer can continue to use forever.
Timecore starred at PaintExpo
April 2024 saw the latest edition of PaintExpo, Europe’s leading trade fair for industrial coating technology, held every two years in Karlsruhe (Germany). This event represented one of the most significant moments for Timecore in the field of exhibition space design for this industry. Among its most outstanding projects was the stand it created for ipcm®, designed to reflect our corporate identity through a modern and dynamic design. The space stood out for its welcoming and convivial atmosphere, enhanced by a lounge area and a football table designed to encourage socialisation among visitors and exhibitors. Thanks to this project, ipcm®’s stand was one of the protagonists of the trade fair, also serving as a setting to celebrate the 15th anniversary of eos Mktg&Communication, the publisher of ipcm®International Paint&Coating Magazine.
Futura renewed its trust in Timecore for the second year running, entrusting it with the design of a stand with a strong visual impact. Combining lights, colours, and materials in an innovative way, it created an immersive experience for visitors, emphasising the company’s leading position in the overhead conveyor sector.
On the other hand, Orbita opted for minimalist elegance: its sober and refined stand design put its products (conveyor bearings and chains) in the spotlight without distractions, proving that minimalism can have a strong and effective impact if it is well designed.
Zeus Electrostatic System opted for an elegant and functional exhibition space designed to reflect its role as a supplier of industrial coating equipment. The stand included spaces for live equipment demonstrations, which enabled the company to present its technologies while attracting visitors’ attention through an interactive and engaging approach.
Alit Technologies captured the attention with a modern and eye-catching stand design, enriched by multimedia technologies that made the visitors’ experience more immersive and all-round, fostering a better understanding of the innovative paint stripping solutions offered by the company.
The PaintExpo trade fair in Karlsruhe also featured one of the most
impressive and avant-garde stands of the event: that of Lesta. This space was not just a simple exhibition point but a genuine display of advanced technology and visual impact. At first glance, Lesta’s stand stood out for its linear design. The clever use of futuristic materials and innovative solutions caught the visitors’ attention, transporting them into a world of innovation and technological progress. However, what made this stand unique was the presence of numerous working robots.
Finally, Infragas also distinguished itself with a modern, well-organised stand that immediately caught the eye. Its well-thought-out layout conveyed the company’s message clearly and effectively while enhancing its innovative technologies.
The latest edition of the Aluminium trade fair in Düsseldorf (Germany) confirmed Timecore as a leader in international exhibition design. One of the most popular stands was the one it created for CIE GROUP, a European leader in the design and production of metal and waste water treatment plants. Its innovative stand was developed around an imposing circular LED wall hanging from the ceiling, capable of catching the eye and attracting visitors’ attention from afar.
The dynamic graphics and product images, cleverly integrated into the layout, made the exhibition environment highly atmospheric, while the bar and meeting areas, designed to encourage socialising, helped to create a welcoming and convivial atmosphere.
Alit Technologies once again chose Timecore to set up a futuristic stand. The large vertical LED wall with customised 3D animation created an elegant and innovative space, perfectly in line with the company’s image, while visitors were able to take souvenir photographs with team members in the photo booth set up with a vintage Vespa.
Attending a trade fair is a key opportunity for every company, but a stand that captures attention and communicates a brand’s value clearly and effectively is essential to maximise its impact. With its consolidated experience and innovative approach, Timecore is the ideal partner to create tailor-made solutions that not only reflect corporate identity but also turn every exhibition into a unique and memorable experience. Through comprehensive management services ranging from planning to logistics, Timecore supports its customers at every stage of the set-up, ensuring that the brand message is communicated perfectly and every detail is attended to with the utmost precision. An added value is on-site assistance during all set-up phases and on the first day of the trade fair to ensure that everything is in line with the project and perfect in every detail.
European Coatings Show: 25 – 27 March 2025
European Coatings Show Conference: 24–26 March 2025
Edited by ipcm® Academy
ipcm® Academy, the training division of ipcm®
- International Paint & Coating Magazine, is a benchmark provider of training and refresher courses for specialists in the field of industrial surface finishing. Its theoretical and practical courses give the students the necessary skills to meet the present and future challenges of the industrial coating market, consolidating technical culture and operational excellence.
The ipcm® Academy courses cover all aspects of industrial coating processes, from corrosion to surface pre-treatment, quality control, and documentation. The aim is to train and keep up-to-date specialised technicians for the surface treatment sector, supporting them towards professional recognition and the acquisition of certified skills. Through a balanced mix of theory and practice, our courses’ participants acquire technical and operational skills directly applicable to their daily work, with a training offer that includes online and classroom lessons. The courses are aimed at coating operators, department managers, production managers, sales technicians at paint manufacturing companies, and quality control managers.They delve into several topics:
Corrosion;
Pre-treatment;
Water treatment and purification;
Application of powder coatings;
Application of liquid coatings;
Inspections;
Control methods, instruments, and practical tests;
ACET testing, with a visit to the Innovhub laboratory;
Plant and equipment;
Failure analysis, maintenance, and safety;
Process control documentation, investment management, and industrial accounting;
Plastics coating;
Coil coating;
Industrial PVD coating, from theory to practice: a manufacturing-
oriented approach to thin-film surface treatments;
ISO 12944 standard: corrosion protection of steel structures by coating.
Some of these course days are held exclusively in person to supplement theory with practical activities, carried out in highly specialised environments:
The Control methods, instruments, and practical tests, ACET testing, and Process control documentation, investment management, and industrial accounting courses are held at the Innovhub laboratory in Milan, where participants can practise sample testing, document writing, and case study analysis.
The Coil coating course is held at the premises of company Novelis in Bresso (Milan) to offer a complete overview of this surface treatment process, with a guided tour of the coating plants and practical sessions in the quality control laboratory.
Since 2020, thanks to a two-year certification process, the Industrial Surface Finishing Process Technologist role has been officially recognised
and included in the QRSP (Regional Framework of Professional Standards) of the Lombardy Region.
These new professionals are responsible for organising and managing production activities aimed at ensuring the optimal finishing and decoration of components and end products and their proper protection against corrosion, verifying they meet durability requirements in their intended environments.
They define the most suitable protection and finishing processes, taking into account technical specifications, expected corrosion resistance and durability, and applicable technologies for surface preparation and paint application.
They handle process approval and validation, qualification of application methods, and verification of applicators’ suitability. In addition, they constantly assess the suitability of production processes, ensuring they are aligned with the required degree of protection and finishing quality, and they verify the consistency of data sheets, protective cycles, and operating instructions.
They also coordinate the scheduling of production operations and process controls, manage equipment and facilities, and draw up the necessary documentation for monitoring and controlling activities. Finally, they actively collaborate with the managers, the design and production engineering departments, the HR department, and the quality department to ensure the conformity and effective implementation of the company’s management, economic, and control plan.
Lecturers are one of the main strengths of ipcm® Academy’s courses. They are not just experts with a wealth of theoretical knowledge but
also professionals with many years of practical experience, who have lived and continue to live in the world of industrial coating while facing its operational challenges on a daily basis. Direct experience enables them to fully understand the fundamental problems of companies and suggest concrete solutions applicable to the daily needs of the courses’ participants.
What further distinguishes our offer is the presence of leading figures bringing added value to our training courses. These include Paolo Rami, the director of ipcm® Academy and an expert in the design and approval of anti-corrosion processes and analysis of coating issues and defects, Pasquale Roberti, Anastasios Vergani, and Gianmaria Gasperini. The ipcm® Academy teaching staff guarantees unique, high-level training courses combining theory, practice, and dialogue with people working in this industry.
Our courses are organised in two annual sessions. This well-established format allows employers and participants to choose the session that best suits their work and personal commitments. The first session of 2025 will be held from the end of March to the end of June, and the second session from the end of September to the beginning of December.
The complete course is aimed at training professional Industrial Surface Finishing Process Technologists and consists of the following one-day lessons: corrosion; pre-treatment; water treatment and purification; application of powder coatings; application of liquid coatings; control methods, instruments, and practical tests; ACET testing; plant and
equipment; failure analysis; and process control documentation and investment management. The training course ends with a final examination, lasting one day and consisting of a written and an oral test. Upon successful completion of the exam, we issue a Certificate of Competence, recognised by the Lombardy Region and valid at the national and European levels.
Those who only wish to deepen specific topics can register for individual days. In this case, we issue a certificate of attendance with national validity.
In addition to standard courses, ipcm® Academy can design and deliver customised training courses directly at a company’s premises. The topics covered and the lesson schedule are developed in collaboration with the customer, taking into account the specific work requirements of the participants. This tailor-made solution optimises learning and ensures an immediate impact on day-to-day activities.
From 2025, ipcm® Academy will implement two new training modules: PVD coatings: it delves into the opportunities offered by this environmentally friendly technology, with a focus on the methodologies
and skills required for roles such as laboratory technician and process engineer. Participants will gain a solid and applicable understanding of PVD technology through interactive lectures.
ISO 12944:2018 standard - Corrosion protection of steel structures by coating: it analyses the ISO 12944:2018 standard. Participants will learn how to interpret and apply it by adapting its provisions to current contexts and future challenges.
Participating in ipcm® Academy courses enables to acquire certified skills recognised at the national and European levels, with the possibility of choosing a customisable training path. Everyone can opt for the complete course or for individual one-day lessons and benefit from practical activities, including demonstrations and quality control tests with professional tools.
Thanks to innovative training programmes and cooperation with accredited institutes, ipcm® Academy has established itself as a reliable partner for professional growth in the industrial finishing sector. Whether for perfecting the skills of already experienced operators or training new professionals, we offer comprehensive support to successfully meet the current and future challenges of the industrial coating market.
For further information, visit the official ipcm® Academy website: https://ipcmacademy.com/
The most important industry events at your fingertips
myFAIR is a free web app that can be accessed from both desktop and mobile devices, which allows you to stay up-to-date with the leading events of the surface treatment sector.
Monica Fumagalli, ipcm®
A colour that no one likes: brown owes its underdog status compared to other tints, but also its good fortune, to its association with the most natural element we know, earth – plus, some curious facts that may come as a surprise.
Brown is undoubtedly an underappreciated tint – have you ever heard anyone say it is their favourite colour? – so much so that tracing its history and characteristics is not easy. At the same time, however, it is the most present one in our daily lives: it is the most common colour of eyes, skin, and hair, as well as being found in many natural elements around us. It was also – and perhaps precisely because of this – the first colour used by our ancestors to capture their first impressions of the world around them on the walls of caves. It was a pigment made from clay and, therefore, with reddish shades, easily found in nature: the first evidence of its use in prehistoric paintings dates back to at least 40,000 BC.
Brown is the colour of humus, of fertile soil, of tree trunks, of coffee, of legumes such as beans and lentils, of chestnuts, of chocolate, of the coat of many animals from brown bears and chamois to horses and buffaloes. It recalls simplicity, naturalness, stability, authenticity, and warmth, but also poverty – just think of the robes of monks, who chose this shade as a sign of renouncing earthly goods – as well as mud, dirt, and excrement. The result of combining black and orange in the CMYK colour model and mixing red and green in the RGB colour model, it also evokes tradition, security, appreciation of one’s heritage, prudence, patience, and tenacity and it is a symbol of satisfaction and harmony on a physical level. According to Michel Pastoureau, the foremost historian of colour meanings, brown represents the most unpleasant and vulgar shades of dark. In the Italian painting tradition, be it Mars brown or Van Dyck brown, sienna or umber, the term marrone (“brown”) is rarely used to refer to this type of colour, preferring to use the words bruno (“dusky”) or terra (“earth tone”). Nowadays, attempts are still made to avoid using this term, especially in the written language, by looking for more sophisticated but
often inaccurate synonyms such as reddish, mahogany, caramel, and chocolate.
The term “brown” (in Italian marrone, in French marron, in Spanish marrón, in Portuguese marrom, in German braun) comes from Old English brun (“dark”, “dusky”), which finds its roots in Proto-Germanic brunaz, from ProtoIndo-European bher, already meaning “bright” or “brown”. These also gave origin to Italian bruno, which as mentioned has historically been considered nobler than marrone (from French marron, “chestnut”). In other languages as well, however, this word carries some negative connotations: in German, braun does not usually have unpleasant meanings, but after the 1930s, it may recall the Brownshirts (Braunhemden), the paramilitary wing of the Nazi party, and that time in history (braune Periode); in French, faire quelqu’un marron (literally, “to make someone brown”) means “to deceive someone”; in English, brown study is said of a melancholy mood accompanied by deep thought.
In Japan, there is no specific, unambiguous term for “brown” as we understand it in Western languages. However, the Japanese use different words to describe shades similar to brown depending on the context: the most common one is 茶色 (ちゃいろ, chairo), which literally means “tea colour” and is used to describe a lighter brown or a shade similar to green or black tea; other terms refer to chestnuts, burnt wood, or coffee brown shades.
In prehistoric times, brown for paintings was obtained from minerals rich in manganese, a metal that tends to darken when exposed to air. Natural pigments (such as brown) were the first materials used by our ancestors to make paints and other forms of art as far back as the caves of El Castillo, dated to around 40,000 years ago, and Altamira, dated to around 18,000 years ago, in Spain.
The ancient Greeks and Romans were known to produce a reddish-brown ink called cuttlefish and made from the ink of a variety of this very mollusc. During the Renaissance, artists generally used four different shades of brown: umber, a dark brown obtained with clay extracted from Umbrian soil in Italy; raw sienna, a reddish earth pigment extracted near Siena, in Tuscany; burnt umber, made with Umbrian clay heated to a darker shade; and burnt sienna, heated to a dark reddish brown.
Brown became truly important when artists began to depict light as realistically as possible, emphasising the contrasts between light and dark in canvases and frescoes to convey the idea of volumes. That was a turning point: gold was abandoned, and it became essential to seek the right depth in the darkness. This trend was already visible in Antonello da Messina’s portraits and Andrea Mantegna’s volumes, and it became established at the height of the Renaissance with Leonardo da Vinci. Brown became predominant in 17th and 18th-century painting, thanks to its intense use first by Caravaggio and later by its followers, the Caravaggisti, but also by Rubens, Rembrandt, and Flemish painters in general. Anthony Van Dyck even gave his name to a blackish-brown shade, also called Cassel earth or Cologne earth, obtained from lignite – Van Dyck brown.
Snubbed by the Impressionists, who preferred pure colours to render their “landscape impressions”, brown retained its shadowy charm in Expressionism and Primitivism, an artistic movement founded on a new freedom of expression to seek that primordial, virgin, non-institutionalised spark found in primitive or even childish art, making the fortune of “natural” hues such as the colours of wood and earth but also of human skin.
However, even this little-appreciated colour has its surprising aspects. Did you know, for example, that artists also used a shade called mummy brown more or less until the 19th century? It owes its name precisely to the fact that it was obtained by macerating and processing the remains of ancient mummies, mostly from Egypt. These were mainly outer tissues, ground and mixed with other ingredients such as pitch and myrrh. The result was a highly prized transparent brown, which apparently remained in vogue until the 1800s, when it slowly began to be sidelined because of the growing awareness of its origins. Containing, among other things, ammonia and fat, it also had the defect of changing the appearance of adjacent colours.
Despite the extensive documentation of its use, mummy brown is challenging to identify when used in a work of art. It is difficult to characterise its composition even when historical pigment samples are available to study, as ancient Egyptian mummification practices changed over time and varied according to factors such as the deceased’s class: bodies could be prepared with varying mixtures of resinous adhesives, protein materials, vegetable gums, animal fats, and possibly other additives such as beeswax and bitumen.
At the beginning of this article, we mentioned that this colour was chosen by monks but snubbed by the rest of the population, mainly because it was reminiscent of the clothes of poor people and peasants, and that it also started to evoke the sinister jackets of the Nazi Party’s assault squads,
recalling their violence and brutality. There are some exceptions, however: the fashion brand Louis Vuitton has turned this colour into the symbol of its bags and accessories, even using it in its packaging. Although it is not too popular in sports, where brown is usually reserved for a team’s second or third jersey, German soccer club F.C. St. Pauli of Hamburg bravely chose it as the colour of their first jersey together with white. The reason for this is unclear, but the official website states that in 1906, “one boozy evening in the August Tenne bar, a number of football-mad members of the games and sport section [of the gymnastics club Hamburg-St. Pauli Turnverein] decided to set up their own football section. In 1909, Amandus Vierth won the argument over the colours for the standard club kit, which remain in use today. Brown and white were also the official club colours from then on.” In architecture, brown is linked to wood, which has become one of the most widespread and imitated materials for both interiors and exteriors –how many times in our industry have we heard of “wood-effect” products, especially for profiles and window frames? One only has to think of the extent to which brown characterised the furniture of the 1970s, in its wooden shades as well as in the more complex hues of green, once widely used in vibrant pop versions. These colours are back in vogue today among the style choices of the greatest architects and designers, reinterpreted through new shapes and combinations in the search for a new connection with the earth and nature and with an environmentally sustainable perspective. One of the most famous architectural monuments “coated in brown” is the Eiffel Tower: the bronze-like shade by which it is known, called brun Tour Eiffel, was chosen in 1968 during one
of its repainting campaigns1
Finally, confirming the little empathy brown creates around it, one of its shades, Pantone 448 C, is universally judged to be the ugliest colour in the world. However, as we have seen on page 134 of this magazine, Pantone itself has recently provided brown with a form of redemption: Mocha Mousse, the Colour of the Year 2025, is a warm shade of brown intended to offer the world an enveloping sensation of touch and taste.
Sources:
- www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7001092899694129152 https://novacolorpaint.com/blogs/nova-color/color-brown-and-itsshades
- https://eu.winsornewton.com/blogs/articles/brown https://chrysler.org/the-history-of-art-in-colors-brown/
- https://www.artistante.com/colore-storia-strumenti-risorse/marrone-ilprimo-colore/
- https://jerseyvice.com/elogio-del-marrone-le-maglie-dellf-c-st-pauli/
1 https://www.ipcm.it/en/article/the-corrosion-of-the-eiffel-tower.aspx
Manuela Casali UCIF – Italian Surface Treatment Equipment Manufacturers’ Association, Milan, Italy info@ucif.net
The SMART portal was initially created as a space for the S.M.A.R.T. (Surface. Technology. Advanced. Research. Trends.) conference, but it has evolved to become UCIF’s online platform dedicated to the world of industrial finishing. This portal provides a unique opportunity to explore key topics such as sustainability, Industry 4.0 and digitalisation, economics, events, and happenings. These are organised in thematic sections that allow for targeted and in-depth consultation, offering content from authoritative and highly informative sources.
On the SMART portal, it is possible to access news and updates concerning both UCIF member companies and the broader landscape of industrial finishing with a careful look at Italian and international perspectives.
A specific section deals with the S.M.A.R.T. convention, where one can consult materials from past editions, such as the papers presented, and find details on various surface treatment solutions. In addition, the website will provide regular updates on the next edition of the conference, S.M.A.R.T. 4, scheduled for 20 May 2026 at the Fondazione Cariplo
Congress Centre in Milan. The theme will be “Sustainability is value creation: how innovation, AI, and digitalisation drive change”. Today, more than ever, a portal like this can prove critical to meet the communication and information needs of a constantly evolving sector. Through this tool, UCIF offers a space where companies, professionals, and enthusiasts can find valuable resources, real-time updates, and a qualified look at emerging trends.
We invite everyone to visit the www.smart-ucif.it website to learn more about UCIF member companies and stay up-to-date with the latest news in the industrial finishing sector.
UCIF (the Italian Surface Treatment Equipment Manufacturers’ Association), part of ANIMA Confindustria Meccanica, represents the Italian companies operating in the design, construction, and installation of surface finishing systems. We are committed to promoting technological excellence, sustainability, and innovation and supporting our members through training, networking, and institutional representation.
Chemtec, a leader in industrial finishing technologies, is pleased to announce the exclusive event Chemtec Lab Experience - Focus on ACET, scheduled for 20th February 2025. This event, designed for industry professionals, will focus on the ACET method as an innovative technique for measuring the corrosion resistance of coatings, capable of meeting the increasingly stringent demands for quality and industrial sustainability.
The event will begin on the morning of 20th February at Italiana Hotels Rho, where the advantages of ACET, a highly reliable accelerated testing method for measuring the corrosion resistance of organic coatings applied to metal surfaces, will be presented from a theoretical perspective. ACET, an electrolytic measurement method regulated by the ISO 17463 standard, provides precise results in just twenty-four hours, offering a valid alternative
to the traditional salt spray test, with faster execution times and a lower environmental impact. During the presentation, the advantages of the ACET test and its potential industrial applications will be discussed.
At the end of the theoretical session, a light lunch will be served, providing an opportunity for networking and idea exchange. Afterwards, participants will move to Corbetta at the Chemtec laboratory, for a hands-on practical
experience and a tour of the company’s production facilities.
A distinctive feature of the event will be the comparative Lab Experience, available to all attendees within twelve months of the event.
A voucher will allow them to conduct a series of parallel tests, using both the ACET method and the salt spray test, for a comprehensive evaluation of the corrosion resistance of their samples.
“Chemtec is continually driving innovation in the industrial finishing sector. Today, we believe the ACET method is one of the most promising solutions to address the challenges of corrosion resistance. The ability to obtain precise and rapid results with a reduced environmental impact represents an important step toward greater sustainability and competitiveness for all companies in the sector,” has stated Carlo Guidetti, CEO of Chemtec.
Chemtec continues to demonstrate its commitment to innovative, safe, and sustainable solutions, helping its partners with cutting-edge products and technologies.
For further information: www.chemtec.it
Global Industrie is the French leading industry event and a significant global industrial show calendar event, bringing together all sectors with 2,500 exhibitors.
The 7th edition of Global Industrie will take place from 11th to 14th March 2025 at the Eurexpo in Lyon (France). Sébastien Gillet from the trade fairs organiser GL Events and Julie Voyer, the director of the event, present the main feature of the show.
What is Global Industrie?
Sébastien Gillet: Global Industrie is the major industry event in France. It brings together all the players in the sector: companies, associations, trade federations, local authorities, political decision-makers and those involved in employment, training and education. It is possible to discover the latest industrial innovations and solutions, with nearly 3,000 machines in operation, and it provides a forum for those who make industry happen to share their daily lives, vision and expectations. Historically, the show has been held in even-numbered years in Paris and odd-numbered years in Lyon. This alternation is essential, as it enables us to reach two major industrial basins with very different visitor profiles – only 4% in common –which multiplies the opportunities for meetings and partnerships.
Why did you choose a common theme for 2025?
Julie Voyer: We felt it was critical to put people back at the heart of creation and industrial processes. Behind every machine and innovation are men and women whose creativity and know-how transform the industry and enable it to evolve. This theme will also drive the Golden Tech competition, which celebrates France’s best industrialists with a continuous show over four days. We expect around a hundred professionals to compete in 15 different trades, creating works that evoke human genius and highlighting the excellence and know-how that shape our industry.
What will be the highlights and new features of the 7th edition?
SG: We are launching several new spaces. The first will be dedicated to 5G, AI and cybersecurity, three technologies that are closely linked and essential levers for successfully transforming businesses digitally. To complement this, for the first time, we will host a Summit devoted entirely to 5G to highlight feedback from international projects, find out about available funding opportunities, and discover concrete applications and innovations from exhibiting companies. A second village will be dedicated to handling, storage, logistics and lifting and will feature a show focusing on supply chain optimisation. Finally, the last town will focus on safety
and well-being in the workplace. Another highlight of Global Industrie will once again be the International Metrology Congress. At the same time, we are working on creating a space showcasing Made in France expertise and the Origine France Garantie label. This showcase and exhibition space will highlight the crucial role played by industry in our daily lives and the importance of consuming locally to support local businesses.
Global Industrie has always been very committed to training and employment. What are you proposing for 2025?
JV: The attractiveness of our professions is a key factor in attracting new talent and supporting the ongoing reindustrialisation of France and Europe. With this in mind, we have designed the GI Avenir space. It will bring together several schemes to raise awareness among young people and jobseekers and introduce them to industry. On the employment front, job dating events will enable participants to meet industrialists and their HR departments. They will also benefit from advice on training and career paths during coaching sessions led by Arts & Métiers alumni. This entire ecosystem has one objective: to rekindle the desire for industry and show young people the wealth of this sector, its sectors, technologies, and job opportunities.
The next European Coatings Show will be held from March 25 to 27, 2025, in Nuremberg, Germany.
The coatings industry stands at the threshold of transformative change, driven by innovation, sustainability, and global collaboration. At the heart of this evolution lies the European Coatings Show 2025 (ECS 2025)—a premier event that will once again unite the global coatings, paints, adhesives, sealants, and construction chemicals sectors. As we prepare for this highly anticipated gathering, scheduled for March 25–27, 2025, in Nuremberg, Germany, we invite you to join us in shaping the future of our industry.
ECS 2025 is not just an exhibition; it’s the nerve centre of innovation for professionals who drive excellence in coatings technology. With over 1,100 exhibitors and tens of thousands of attendees from across the globe, the event offers unparalleled opportunities to experience the latest products, technologies, and trends firsthand. From sustainable raw materials to advanced testing equipment, ECS 2025 will showcase the full spectrum of the coatings industry.
Sustainability is more than a trend; it’s a mandate for our industry. Consumers and regulators alike are calling for eco-friendly solutions that reduce environmental impact while maintaining high performance. At ECS 2025, sustainability takes centre stage. Exhibitors will highlight bio-based raw materials, energy-efficient production methods, and recyclable packaging innovations, addressing the industry’s most pressing challenges.
Moreover, the European Coatings Conference, running alongside the exhibition, will delve deeper into the science and strategies shaping sustainable coatings. Experts from academia, industry, and beyond will present cutting-edge research, ensuring that attendees leave with actionable insights to lead the transition to greener solutions.
Digital transformation in coatings
Digitalization is reshaping the coatings landscape, enabling manufacturers to streamline production processes, enhance quality
control, and deliver more customized solutions. At ECS 2025, visitors can expect to see advancements in smart coatings, automated testing technologies, and AI-driven formulation tools. These innovations not only improve efficiency but also open up new possibilities for product design and functionality.
One of the unique strengths of ECS is its role as a global meeting point. With participants from over 120 countries, the show transcends borders to facilitate meaningful international collaborations. This year, we are proud to spotlight key regions shaping the future of coatings, including Europe, Asia-Pacific, and North America. Special sessions will explore how local market dynamics intersect with global trends, providing a comprehensive view of the industry’s direction.
As the coatings sector evolves, staying ahead requires more than just keeping up with trends—it demands active engagement with the ideas, technologies, and people shaping tomorrow’s industry. ECS 2025 offers all of this and more. Whether the goal is to launch a new product, source innovative materials, or gain strategic insights, the event provides a wealth of opportunities tailored to diverse needs. With a robust mix of technical presentations, product demonstrations, and networking events, ECS 2025 is designed to inspire and equip you to succeed in a competitive marketplace.
Mark your calendar and be part of the coatings industry’s flagship event. The European Coatings Show 2025 is more than a trade fair—it’s a movement toward a smarter, more sustainable, and more innovative future. Don’t miss your chance to be at the forefront of this transformation.
We look forward to welcoming you to Nuremberg from March 25–27, 2025, as we collaborate to shape the future of coatings. Together, let’s innovate, inspire, and lead. See you at ECS 2025!
Powder Coating Week 2025 returns with a programme consisting of four distinct events, providing the ideal mix of training, keynote presentations, technical sessions, tabletop exhibits, roundtable discussions, expert panels and networking opportunities.
Powder Coating Week 2025 is the best opportunity for everyone involved in powder coating to enhance their expertise and build connections. From 14th to 16th April 2025 at the Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld® in Orlando (Florida, U.S.A.), attendees and exhibitors alike will experience three days filled with all things powder coating: as a matter of fact, participants will have the opportunity to discover the latest technologies, equipment and services for powder coating operations through products presentations, technical sessions, roundtable discussions and expert panels.
PCI’s Powder Coating 101 Workshop kicks off the event on Monday, April 14, and Tuesday, April 15. The Custom Coater Forum will be held on Monday afternoon, April 14, opening with a luncheon at noon and programme to follow at 1:00 PM. The Powder Coating Technical Conference begins on Tuesday morning, April 15 with breakfast followed by an Advanced General Session on sustainability in the powder coating industry. AkzoNobel’s Regional Technical Manager Hong Li, Ph.D. will address a variety of aspects on how sustainability can drive innovative solutions that benefit the powder coating industry. The Technical Conference continues with a variety of topical breakout sessions that run through Wednesday, April 16. The Powder Coating Technical Conference will close with a luncheon and roundtable discussions that will bring attendees and speakers together to exchange ideas and share information among peers. This popular session will focus on critical initiatives, informative tips and a collection of take-aways that will be shared with the entire audience which makes it the perfect way to close the event. PCI has expanded the Tabletop Exhibition floor and it will be open Monday evening and during Tuesday’s lunch and evening reception.
“Powder Coating Week 2025 promises something for everyone, whether you are new to powder coating or a seasoned industry veteran. We will be returning to the Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld® , the perfect venue for this event. We are excited to offer many new technical presentations. We look forward to another great event in Orlando!”, has stated Kevin Coursin.
The Surface Design Show (SDS), the UK’s largest event dedicated to surface material innovation, will take place from 4th to 6th February 2025 at London’s Business Design Centre.
The Surface Design Show (SDS) is the go-to event for architects and designers to see, source and specify the latest and most inspiring internal and external surface materials from over 180 exhibitors.
Creative Conscience has been revealed as the 2025 theme and will highlight the future of materials for the built environment, focusing on sustainability, technological advancement and the human experience. Creative Conscience embodies a drive and commitment to sustainable, ethical and innovative design. This forward-thinking attitude explores the harmonious fusion of colour, sustainability and ingenuity in surface design for architecture and interiors.
The plethora of exhibitors range from hand crafted ceramic tiles to stunning marble panels, bespoke wood veneers and of course paint and wall surfaces.
Exhibitors include San Deco an expert in paint & plaster, with a diverse product line that includes decorative paints, Venetian plaster and eco friendly lime-based coatings delivering options that blend natural elegance with advanced performance. World leaders in natural, textured and speciality wall coverings Phillip Jeffries will be showcasing their stunning designs including Shades of Silk beautiful Japanese silk coverings in 46 exquisite colours including rich vibrant shades mixed with
soft pastels. Impera Italia introduces Italian décor to the UK specialising in bespoke finishes utilising Venetian plasters, decorative paints and Microcement.
Located right in the heart of the show will be Surface Spotlight in partnership with CDUK, which features ground-breaking materials for visitors to touch and feel, giving a truly ‘hands -on’ experience. Curated by trend expert Sally Angharad, Surface Spotlight presents a selection of surfaces, finishes and materials that celebrate the power of creative thinking, demonstrating how ethical innovation is providing positive design solutions.
Visitors will have the opportunity to discover the best innovative materials for the built environment, alongside a stellar lineup of guest speakers and thought-provoking installations, with over 6000 architects, designers, and specifiers in attendance.
more information on myFAIR webapp
The International Conference on Automotive Body Finishing – SURCAR has been at the forefront of the industry since 1964. The trade fairs will come back also in 2025, to allow the automotive sector to exchange ideas, network and develop fruitful partnerships.
The SURCAR trade fairs, renowned for their focus on automotive body repair, paints, and coatings, are set to once again bring together industry professionals from around the globe for a series of groundbreaking events. SURCAR’s commitment to showcasing the latest technologies and trends in the automotive sector makes its conferences a must-attend event for anyone involved in vehicle finishing, repair technologies and sustainable practices within the industry.
SURCAR provides a unique opportunity for automotive professionals to stay ahead of the curve by discovering the most innovative advancements in automotive body coatings. Attendees will gain firsthand exposure to cutting-edge technologies that are shaping the future of the industry – from eco-friendly paint solutions to state-of-the-art repair tools and advanced refinishing techniques.
Besides the exhibition floor, SURCAR will feature expert-led workshops, insightful presentations, and panel discussions that dive deep into pressing issues facing the automotive industry, including environmental
sustainability, evolving repair methodologies, and the future of car coatings. In addition to the wealth of technological advancements on display, SURCAR also offers unparalleled networking opportunities. Professionals from around the world, ranging from manufacturers and suppliers to car body repair shops and decision-makers from major automotive manufacturers, will have the chance to connect, exchange ideas, and forge valuable partnerships that can drive future growth and innovation within the industry.
The upcoming SURCAR trade fairs are expected to attract thousands of industry leaders and professionals, making it an unmissable event for anyone committed to advancing the future of the automotive industry.
SURCAR America: 11-12 June 2025 – Detroit (Michigan, U.S.A.)
SURCAR Europe: 26-27 June 2025 – Cannes (France)
SURCAR Asia: September 2026
EDITOR IN CHIEF
ALESSIA VENTURI venturi@ipcm.it
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
FRANCESCO STUCCHI stucchi@ipcm.it
EDITORIAL OFFICE
PAOLA GIRALDO giraldo@ipcm.it
MONICA FUMAGALLI fumagalli@ipcm.it
NICOLE KRAUS kraus@ipcm.it
MATTEO SOTTI sotti@ipcm.it
ILARIA PAOLOMELO paolomelo@ipcm.it
GABRIELE LAZZARI redazione@ipcm.it
FEDERICO MELIDEO melideo@ipcm.it
GIULIA GENTILE gentile@eosmarketing.it
MEDIA SALES
FRANCESCO STUCCHI stucchi@ipcm.it
ILARIA PAOLOMELO paolomelo@ipcm.it
NICOLE KRAUS kraus@ipcm.it
GRAPHICS
ELISABETTA VENTURI grafico@ipcm.it
TRANSLATIONS
CHIARA FOPPA PEDRETTI chiara.foppapedretti@gmail.com
SEBEGRAF SRL | info@sebegraf.eu
EDITED BY
Prof. Stefano Rossi
Material Engineering and Industrial Technologies, University of Trento - Product Design
Kevin Biller ChemQuest Powder Coating Research
Gianmaria Guidi Consultant for industrial and anticorrosive coating processes
Gianmaria Gasperini
Head of the Paint&Coatings Laboratory of Innovhub SSI Divisione Oli e Grassi
Paolo Rami Director of ipcm®Academy, expert in anticorrosion, coating defects analysis, and process optimization
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Tariffe Abbonamento 2025
Abbonamento annuale cartaceo + digitale:
EMEA €110,00 (spese postali incluse)
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Fascicolo singolo €15,00
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