PaintExpo Sets New Record

7th Industrial Coatings Technology Trade Fair to be held in Karlsruhe, Germany between 17-20 April 2018

When it comes to painting and coating operations, both contract painters and companies that produce coatings in-house face a dilemma: on one hand increasing process quality, productivity, flexibility and sustainability, while on the other hand reducing costs. However, many different solution proposals await you at PaintExpo: Even five months before its opening (as of 10 November 2017), PaintExpo has confirmed the participation of 450 companies and will be held at the Karlsruhe Exhibition Centre between 17-20 April 2018. The exhibition range of the world's leading industrial coatings technology trade fair covers an enormous spectrum from pre-treatment to quality control and packaging. Whether in the production of capital goods or consumer goods, industrial coating plays a decisive role as a cross-sectional technology. Depending on the product and application, it must meet a wide variety of functional and decorative requirements. Regardless of whether the material to be coated is metal, plastic, wood, glass or composite, demands for quality and individuality continue to increase worldwide. However, cost pressure is also rising simultaneously. The competitiveness of paint companies depends largely on their ability to produce high-quality coatings, but also to work more efficiently, flexibly, environmentally friendly and economically at source. For this purpose, PaintExpo, to be held at the exhibition grounds in Karlsruhe between 17-20 April 2018, presents solutions that cannot be found together anywhere else in the world. With approximately 450 companies already preparing, including all market and technology leaders, PaintExpo's organizer, FairFair GmbH General Manager Jürgen Haußmann, commented on the matter as follows:

"Some major companies that have not participated before have registered for the upcoming PaintExpo this year. We can say that visitors can expect the world's most current and comprehensive industrial painting technologies and various solutions to all kinds of problems."

Solutions from Pre-treatment to Final Inspection

In wet coating, powder coating or coil coating techniques, PaintExpo, the world's leading trade fair in industrial coating technology, covers the entire process chain of industrial coating. In pre-treatment, alongside wet chemical processes such as iron and zinc phosphating, nanoceramic systems and state-of-the-art technologies for processing metal multilayer substrates are also presented. Dry pre-treatment processes such as carbon dioxide foam blasting and plasma cleaning are gaining increasing importance due to their space-saving benefits, resource savings and easy integration into coating lines. Manufacturers respond to demands for color variety and greater customization with continuously smaller footprint facilities, new plant and optimization concepts designed for flexibility and efficiency, aimed at achieving the best coating quality. New masking solutions also provide additional cost savings. Painting robots specially developed for industrial coatings and automation solutions, along with spray guns and high-speed atomizers designed for maximum efficiency, reduce costs through targeted application and waste reduction.

Another approach to reducing raw material consumption and increasing flexibility is paint supply systems and intelligent paint logistics. When it comes to overspray, dry cleaning waste systems have seen strong demand in recent times.

New drying technologies and conveyor systems designed to minimize air and heat loss contribute additionally to reducing energy consumption and thus unit costs. In the wet coating sector, there is a trend toward systems that make it possible to reduce paint process steps. Efforts to replace solvent-based paints with water-based systems continue unabated. In powder coating applications, low-temperature, thin-film and "powder on powder" coating applications provide energy and material savings as well as increased efficiency. The seventh PaintExpo, the world's leading trade fair in industrial coating technology, will take place at the Karlsruhe Exhibition Centre between 17-20 April 2018. Among the products displayed at PaintExpo are wet, powder, UV, dip and coil coating applications, paints for all processes, application systems and spray guns, automation and conveyor technology, cleaning and pre-treatment, drying and curing, environmental technology, compressed air technology, air supply and exhaust air purification, water treatment, recycling and disposal, accessories, masking, measurement and testing technology, quality assurance, marking, paint stripping, contract coating, service and specialist literature. For more information and the list of participants confirmed so far, visit www.paintexpo.de.