International Coatings Scene
EUROPE
BY SEAN MILMO
EUROPEAN CORRESPONDENT
MILMOCW@RODPUB.COM
Innovation is key for SMEs
Recessions are usually a time of opportunity for innovators in manufacturing. Companies want to ensure that when the economic recovery comes they will be able to market new products to
take advantage of increasing demand.
In particular economic crises can offer chances
for expansion to SMEs, which are active on the
leading edge of new technologies. At the same
time, recessions can be periods of great financial
difficulties for small companies.
In the European coatings sector the need for
innovation is particularly intense in the current
recession because, in addition to the requirements for product differentiation, coatings producers have to comply with tougher regulations
in areas like emissions of VOCs, recycling and
controls of potentially dangerous chemicals.
“These are very challenging times for our
industry,” Neal Williams, research associate at
AkzoNobel’s decorative paints division, told a
recent coatings conference in Europe. “Those companies that develop innovative solutions in the
downturn will thrive in the upturn.”
The biggest scope for innovation is in the development of new raw materials, which because of
the wide range of chemicals involved can provide
openings to medium- and small-sized companies.
In Europe the recession is enabling SMEs to
move into or strengthen their positions in niche
segments because of their ability to be quicker on
their feet than larger raw material suppliers. Nor
do they have to worry so much about gaining a
fast return on R&D expenditure to satisfy
investors and shareholders.
“At times like this there are additional advantages in being small,” said Ralf Klein-Kretzschmar,
application engineering manager at Nano-X,
Saarbrueken-Guedingen, Germany, a company
with 50 employees specializing in nano materials
for coatings, adhesives and related products.
“We can be much more flexible than big companies and we can be highly responsive to customers needs,” he said. “We are also financially
independent. We don’t have to worry about earning returns for venture capitalists.”
Nano-X’s business model is based on doing devel-
During
recessions
SMEs need
to rely on
innovation
to help
stay
afloat.
opment work for companies in the coatings and
other sectors on new materials for which they
would have exclusive rights for a number of years.
“Currently we are getting a lot of requests for
development projects,” Klein-Kretzschmar said.
“There seems to be more interest in innovation
because companies are looking at ways of staying
competitive especially when the economy
improves.”
One of Nano-X’s latest R&D successes has
been the development of an anti-corrosion material for a steel coating in a production machine
used by Volkswagen, the automobile manufacturer. The material enables the coating to withstand
temperatures of 900°C.
In the fledgling segment for carbon nanotubes,
Nanocyl SA, a Belgian start-up, is successfully
competing in the coatings sector with multinationals like Bayer MaterialScience (BMS) of
Germany and Arkema of France. As a result of the
inroads it has been making in markets like those
for aqueous dispersions and for antistatic, flame
barrier and antifouling coatings it is planning to
expand next year its 40-tons-a-year plant for carbon nanotubes (CNTs) at Sampreville, Belgium.
Nanocyl has been exploiting an affinity which
carbon nanotubes have with silicone resins
enabling a low loading of CNTs in silicone composites. It has developed an anti-fouling paint combining CNTs and silicone to stop organisms adhering
to coated surfaces. Another CNT silicone-based dispersion of the company provides protection to
metal plates against temperatures of 1000°C.
In addition to demands for improved performance in areas like heat resistance, a top requirement of coating companies in Europe are for
chemicals which help them comply with the
European Union’s environmental regulations.
“Companies are more willing now to look at
innovations, particularly if they help them deal
with environmental regulations,” said Julien
Fischer, technical support manager at
Interpolymer, Hassloch, Germany, a family-owned specialist in waterborne polymers.
“Environmental compliance has become the number one priority, ahead of costs and performance—
