Fresh Paint
mobile company, awarded BASF
with the Best Supplier Award for its
performance in the paints category
for the year 2008-2009, considering
parameters such as quality, cost,
delivery and development. Ma-
hindra, leader in the utility vehicle
(UV) segment in India, honored
BASF with the Best Performance
Award in Value Addition and Value
Engineering category for the year
2009-2010. Today, BASF is one of the
top three players in the thriving
automotive coatings industry in
India, supplying all major automo-
tive and motorcycle companies.
VALSPAR CLOSES $142
MILLION DEAL FOR WATTYL
Valspar closed its $142 million
acquisition of Australian paint manufacturer Wattyl Ltd. Valspar
announced the deal in June as part
of a broader expansion in the Asia-Pacific region. Wattyl, which brought
in revenue of about $380 million last
year, distributes paint through home
improvement and hardware outlets
as well as a network of 140 company-owned stores.
AkzoNobel, Walmart Form
Partnership in the U.S.
AkzoNobel has been selected by Walmart to be the primary paint supplier for the retailer’s U.S. stores. The company will develop and manufacture a portfolio of interior and exterior paints for more than 3,500
Walmart stores nationwide. This agreement builds on the existing relationship with Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, for paints in Puerto
Rico and Canada, and with Liquid Nails adhesives in the U.S.
“This is an excellent opportunity for us to work with Walmart and
offer their customers an exciting new in-store program,” said Tex
Gunning, the AkzoNobel board member responsible for decorative
paints. “This is a landmark deal
which will significantly boost our
market share in the U.S. and con-
tribute to further enhancing the
value of our Glidden brand there.”
Walmart will begin the transition
to AkzoNobel early next year.
AkzoNobel Decorative Paints in the
Americas (Canada, US and Latin
America) currently employs around
7,200 people and generates revenue
of close to €1.5 billion. It operates
eight paint manufacturing and dis-
tribution sites in the U.S. and a
global research and development
center in Strongsville. The portfolio
consists of architectural coatings
and wood care products, as well as
adhesives and caulks.
ASTM APPROVES STANDARD
FOR ZIRCONIUM TREATMENT
Zirconium is used as an anti-corro-sive finishing/surface treatment on
metal substrates. If the coating of
zirconium is too thin, then the
sought-for metal property will not be
achieved. Similarly, applying too
thick a coat means that treatment
material is wasted and so is money.
Therefore, ASTM International
Committee D01 on Paint and
Related Coatings, Materials and
Applications has developed a new
standard, ASTM D7639, Test Method
for Determination of Zirconium
Treatment Weight or Thickness on
Metal Substrates by X-Ray
Fluorescence, to assist in the production of fit-for-purpose and cost-effective parts. According to Christelle
Petiot, XRF coatings product manager, Oxford Instruments Analytical,
U.K., “This standard will be used to
measure the zirconium treatment
weight or thickness applied to metal
substrates, either along the process
line, or in the quality control lab.” In
both cases X-ray fluorescence instruments are used; handheld XRF
instruments are typically used along
the process line for rapid quality
control with no sample preparation,
and benchtop XRF instruments are
used in the quality control lab. The
XRF instruments are used to provide
qualitative and quantitative data
about the metals. ASTM D7639
shows users the performance (
precision) that can be achieved by following its simple procedure and using
the instrumentation defined in the
method. The next step for
Committee D01 and its Subcommittee D01.53 on Coil Coated
Metal is to develop methods for
other treatments such as chromium
and titanium. The committee welcomes participation from all interested parties, particularly coil coater
professionals.
