By Debarati Das
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) organised the 2nd edition of Surface & Coating Expo (SCE) in Chennai. The three-day expo, held from August 26 to 28, 2016, focused on surface engineering, preparation, finishing, coatings and corrosion protection technologies. The biennial expo was attended by over 150 exhibitors from India and abroad, with over 8,000 business visitors and more than 750 delegates from across the globe this year.
Dr U Kamachi Mudali, chairman, Surface & Coatings Expo 2016 and outstanding scientist and associate director, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) said, “By treating and engineering the surface, corrosion can be prevented.”
SCE 2016 kept a strong focus on interactions between researchers, user industry, and manufacturers from branches of surface finishing and coating applications that are contributing to the industrial growth. The event brought in the manufacturers of world class technology and process on the same platform along with end users industries, manufacturers and technology leaders for a confluence and exchange of knowledge and know-how.
This was further supported by two days conference by the stalwarts of the industry who discussed in depth on various technological aspects of surface and coatings technologies like pre-treatment of surface preparations, technological trends in paint & coatings industry, testing and instrumentation equipment for quality enhancements, environment and safety practices, powder coating technology, electroplating technology, etc.
Effects of corrosion are much greater in terms of environmental damage, wastage of resources and loss of production and injury of personnel. Corrosion prevention and control is highly complex as corrosion takes many different forms and is affected by numerous factors.
Ramesh Datla, chairman, CII Southern Region said the cost of corrosion is estimated to be 42.5 trillion globally and it was about 3.4 percent of global GDP. In India, it is estimated to be 467 billion. In addition to this were the damage to the environment and the loss of production and resources. These losses can be prevented to a great extent by proper surface preparation and coating. The best-coated surface would improve the aesthetic appeal of the products and protect them from corrosion and deterioration.
“The proposed National Corrosion Mission will bring corrosion control to the mainstream of programmes and projects in the industrial and other important sectors of production and processing. This will also help deduce the loss of 3 percent of GDP to corrosion, estimated to be worth over Rs 4 crore,” said Baldev Raj, chairman, CII, Corrosion Management Committee and director, National Institute for Advanced Studies. “Every industry, big or small, would have to submit reports on their corrosion management plans as it would become a national priority,” he added.
Acknowledging this need for uplifting the technological knowledge of the industry, CII - AVANTHA Centre for Competitiveness formed the Committee on Corrosion Management - which is a network of renowned individuals with distinguished work in the area of corrosion. Apart from live technology demonstrations, product launches and conferences, CII-Corrosion Management Committee (CMC) organised a two days certification training course on corrosion management during the expo for industry professionals to upgrade the knowledge base of the industry.
The training programme provided direction and guidance to participants on minimising the losses due to corrosion in various sectors of industry and imparted technical knowledge about corrosion prevention techniques.
The expo had a wide range of exhibitors and visitors from various streams. Exhibitors will be from highly focused avenues such as mechanical finishing, chemical finishing technology, chemicals and raw materials, plant and machinery, paints & powder coating applications, testing equipment, protective coatings, industrial coating, thermal coatings, etc.
The visitors at the event were from a diverse range of industries such as aerospace, agriculture, automobile, balance of plant suppliers, boiler & turbines manufacturers, cement, chemical & pharma industry, construction, consultants, cooling towers, defence, desalination plants manufacturers, electronics, energy, engineering, fire, food processing, iron & steel, local government, manufacturing, OEM contactors, oil & gas, plastics, ports, power plants, railways, space, sugar and waste water, etc.
Exhibitor Views
X Arokianathan, Managing Director, Vitech Enviro Systems Pvt. Ltd.
Vitech is a manufacturer of complete paint shop equipment. We do a complete turnkey project from the concept of design, engineering, manufacture, supply, installation and commissioning a plant. There has been a lot of development on the surface and coatings sector coming from the automotive industry. Some of the developments are in the type of paintings, method and kind of chemical used its applications and the cost factors which is putting pressure on the industry today. Especially robotic applications are the latest technology because you get consistency, quality and productivity which may not be possible with a human operation. At the event, we have brought everyone under one platform. At present, the need is to develop awareness regarding the latest development in the coatings industry.
Michael Berger, Managing Director, Durr India Pvt. Ltd.
In India and globally, the surface and coatings market is driven by the automotive industry. Our products are basically to protect the cars from corrosion and help give a better surface and finish to the cars. The market for this kind of surface engineering is growing in India as the sale of two-wheelers, 4-wheelers, small cars, premium cars, commercial vehicles, etc is growingtremendously. The Indian economy is recovering, the industry is growing strong, the GDP is positive and the micro & macro-economic trends are positive and it is a good time for us to invest in this country.
Murthy Challa, Managing Director, Atotech India Pvt. Ltd.
There are several processes in electroplating industries, which are hazardous and there is a dire need to adopt processes which are green and environmentally friendly. At Surface & Coating Expo, we displayed Electroless nickel- which is heavy metal-free solutions. Similarly, in decorative finishes, the pretreatment is done with chromic acid which is dangerous and carcinogenic but people are still using it. We have developed an alternate process for this which is safer. Overall, our goal is to reduce environmental footprint.
Tejinder Chadha, GM - Sales & Marketing, Taikisha Engineering India Pvt. Ltd.
The market in India is becoming more competitive with new car models launching every day. Because of this, they have a cost pressure on them and they need equipment and technologies which will reduce the cost of manufacturing and help launch new automobile models faster. At SCE, we are showcasing a new conveyer system which reduces the footprint of a plant, decreases chemical and lead to overall cost reduction. We have also displayed a production monitoring system, which provides operation analysis, paint quality analysis, production cost analysis and preventive measurement.
Gurvin Singh, Partner, Coatec India.
I must congratulate CII for this event. This is the second edition and, it is much bigger and better than the previous one. This year, we have been able to get Atotech on board, but we want more electroplating companies to come up for such events as electroplating is an extremely important metal finishing the process. However, somehow they remain at the sideline and never come into the mainstream industry. Almost all two wheeler manufacturing has some or the other type of electroplating.
Tore Lindstrorm, Head Of Robotics, ABB India Limited
Safety is of utmost importance while carrying out the paint operations. In such an environment, where workers are involved and desired high levels of quality, robotic applications are most useful. An event such as SCE is an excellent platform. You have everything from the booth suppliers to robot suppliers and all the equipment that is related to surface finishing. It is an all-encompassing exhibition and the people who have come really know what they are looking for – focused and good quality of visitors.
Lars Sudfels, Product Manager, OEM Wheel, Wheelabrator Group GmbH
Surface is an upcoming and important issue. To improve the quality and the life time of the product, one must have a good surface and to prepare the surface before coating, shot blasting is necessary and we are the right partner for delivering the right equipments for shot blasting applications. One of the challenge that the industry is facing is that many foreign companies are moving their production and quality standards to India. And for this, the companies have to meet the customer needs to achieve the quality here in India. We are here to support them and help them achieve the global quality standard. Today the need of the hour for the Indian industry is to have environment friendly painting, coating and shot blasting systems to protect the environment.
Jagadish Kulkarni, VP – Sales & Marketing (W&A), Wheelabrator, Disa India Ltd.
This is the second edition of the event hosted by CII. We have always been a part of this event. The basic trend of the industry is the move from wet process to dry process which brings in the aspects of environmental control, better handling etc. This is a global opportunity and as a group, we have the required solutions for steel and auto segment. Our shot blasting process, which is a dry process, is much easier to handle and the dust disposal system is safer and easier.
Sadasivan Iyer, Senior Manager – Technical Automotive division, Kansai Nerolac Paints Ltd.
In automobiles, coatings play a very important role in creating the aesthetic appeal for customers and determining its successful sale in the market. We are the leaders of automotive coatings in India and we have brought in a revolution by bringing in a new concept of 3C1B Coating which is a compact coating process with enhanced aesthetic appeal. Today, the most important challenge is to improve and increase the life of the coatings on automobiles while withstanding all environmental adversities.
Vinay Marawar, President & Managing Director, Eisenmann India Pvt. Ltd.
In surface and coatings industry the technology can be divided into process technology and plant & equipment technology. In process technology, the conservation of water and energy is becoming very important. Once the process is optimised, automatically there is an impact of this on the plant & equipment size, price and running cost. In equipment technology, there is a growing trend in the high level of automation and maintaining the hygiene in the paint shop. We have come up with many environment friendly and efficient solutions for the paint industry.
Daniel Hartmann, Director, Marketing & Sales, ENisco GmbH & Co KG
The trend in the industry is towards Internet of Things, Smart Factory initiatives etc which all talks about the same thing where everything gets interconnected. In a paint shop, there are quite a number of input variables like the chemical input variable, electricity, conveyer system variable for movements etc. All these things create data and our systems make paint shops more efficient and ensure that our customers produce at a lower cost and better quality. We developed a software, Eisenmann Manufacturing Execution System (EMES) which collects data from all variables in the paint shop, analyses the problem to help make an informed decision to solve the problem.
Suprotik Das, Managing Director, Nordson (India) Pvt. Ltd.
One big thing that has been happening in this industry is the move away from liquid paints and towards powder paint due to several reasons like the damage incurred to the environment by liquid paints, wastage etc. Power paints is a very benign and soft technology which have also proved to give more durable finish, corrosion resistance and are economically advantageous than liquid paint. However, there are also a few things like surface finish etc which is achieved better by liquid paints. Hence, the powder technology is rigorously being updated to overcome the challenges faced. We supply the equipment required to apply the powder coating. Technologies like the marriage between a spray paint and robotics are some of the trends which are catching up in this industry.
M K Ganesan, Managing Director, Prism Surface Coatings Pvt. Ltd.
The industry is using compressed air as the force for the automotive industry. And when it is used there’s almost 50-60 percent of paint wasted and only 30 to 40 percent goes to the component. After 100 years we have generated and launched a product which does not use compressed air, instead, it uses dry warm di-humidified air and the wastage is minimum. You have transfer efficiency increased by 30-40 percent, you have paint savings. When you say environmental friendly products this is one step in the same direction, this product can cut done the paint wastage, your VOC is reduced, less paint goes to the water, there will fewer chemicals used and automatically less pollution.
Rakesh Bhan, Managing Director, Fischer Measurement Technologies (India) Pvt. Ltd.
The event this year is much bigger and better as compared to its last edition. We have had quite a number of interesting enquiries. There are a growing number of customers who want to invest in measuring tools to check the quality of the final product. This is the shift that the industry is going through where quality is being given a lot of importance. Today, there is a wide range of coatings available in the market. The trend is to have a thinner layer of coatings and its moving towards nanometre level. Fischer, being a world leader in coating thickness measurements, has come up with the latest technologies to ensure precise and reliable measurements to our customers.
Dinesh Sudumbrekar, Sales Manager, Insight Engineering
We displayed a small model of the actual plant which goes up to 40 to 50 metre and can be used for pre-treatment, cleaning or plating of the plant. Today customers need 100 percent automation wherein they want data, data acquisition, online corrections etc. Maintaining parameters at the right position are becoming the key requirement. For this, we are progressing towards better process capability. We are also putting additional efforts towards sustainability. We are constantly trying to minimise the addition of extra water, chemicals etc. by gathering proper data and minimising wastage.
© Chemical Today Magazine
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