and protection properties of the
clear coat, which eliminates the
need for a separate clear coat.
The painted body is fully cured
in an enamel oven after the color coat is
applied. The total process removes one
paint application step and one oven drying step when compared to conventional
paint processes.
The new paint procedure is being used
for white-colored vehicles, which account
for 80 percent of Ford Transit production
at Kansas City Assembly Plant. As each
color must be developed uniquely for the
two-wet monocoat process, other colors
will be considered based on demand. A
conventional three-wet process – primer,
base coat, clear coat – remains in use for
metallic-colored vehicles.
Jotun Expands Globally
with IFS Applications
IFS, a global enterprise applications company, has announced that Jotun has
expanded its use of IFS Applications to
additional sites in Europe, Asia, and the
Americas. The agreement includes licenses worth approximately NOK 19 million.
With 69 companies, 36 production facilities, and a presence in more than 90
countries, Norway-based Jotun supplies
paints and coatings that protect and decorate surfaces in the residential, shipping,
and industrial markets. Since 2003, Jotun
has expanded its use of IFS Applications
to support business-critical processes
such as manufacturing, financials, procurement, and supply chain to more than
20 countries worldwide.
To support its ambitious growth targets and to maximize process efficiency
and transparency, Jotun has decided to
extend its central IFS ERP solution to include an additional 2,000 users.
“After many years of working together with IFS, we are preparing for
further growth, also in new countries
around the world,” Jotun CEO Morten
Fon said. “To achieve this in the most
efficient way possible, we need an agile
and reliable business system that can
offer us a central platform and a unified way of working. We are convinced
that IFS Applications will help us reach
this goal.”
AkzoNobel’s Awlgrip Brand
Selected for Sea Ray’s New
Luxury Yacht
AkzoNobel’s premier Awlgrip brand has
been selected as the preferred topcoat
supplier to Sea Ray, the world’s leading
manufacturer of superior quality pleasure boats ranging from 18 to 65 feet.
The announcement follows the recent
unveiling of Sea Ray’s L650 Fly – a flagship of the company’s new L-Class line of
luxury yachts – which features Awlcraft
SE metallic topside paint in Aurora Gold.
“Every square inch of an L-Class yacht is
designed with one purpose – to achieve
the perfect balance of style and substance,” explained Ron Berman, Sea Ray’s
vice president of Product Development
and Engineering. “We made very deliberate decisions at every stage, including using Awlgrip, to ensure that we
were crafting not just a boat, but a better boating experience.” Added Conrad
Keijzer, AkzoNobel’s executive committee member responsible for Performance
Coatings: “As a leading paint and coatings supplier, we constantly push the
boundaries of aesthetics and functionality and are delighted to have partnered
with a renowned company such as Sea
Ray. “Our leading OEM coatings provide
a wide range of brilliant colors, allowing
boat dealers to offer their customers the
greatest choice and most creative designs.
They also add important functionality to
surfaces, enhancing a vessel’s lifetime and
adding value to our customers’ products.”
Awlcraft SE is a revolutionary, fast-drying topcoat. Available in custom colors
that include metallic and effect finishes,
the product can be repaired and buffed
without compromising performance.
Commenting on the partnership with
Sea Ray, Fred Daoust, general manager
of AkzoNobel’s Yacht business in North
America, said: “We are thrilled to have
the opportunity to work with Sea Ray
and are very pleased with the end result
on the L650 Fly.”
LORD Corporation Opens
New Houston Office For
Future Growth
LORD Corporation announced the open-
ing of a new office in Houston to support
customers in the midwestern and south-
western United States. With a 90-year his-
tory of innovation, LORD Corporation
offers its customers more than 2,500
patented products in adhesives, coatings,
motion management devices and sensing
technologies.
The LORD Houston office is located
north of the city at 2455 Farm to Market
(FM) 2920 in Spring, Texas. LORD
Corporation chose Houston to better
serve and support customers locally in
energy related sectors, including downhole drilling. Gregg Cune, global business
development manager for downhole tool
systems will serve as the office manager.
Cune will also lead the team to identify
new opportunities to develop new parts
and products for downhole, which will be
available to customers all over the world.
“This new office opening is a major
accomplishment for LORD. It provides
the company with the opportunity to become more accessible to our oil and gas
clients; the location is key and will enable
LORD to provide them with the service
and value LORD is known for,” said
Jonathan Owens, director, oil and gas industry group at LORD Corporation.
Beckers Group Publishes
Sustainability Report
Beckers Group issued its new
Sustainability Report. Like last year,
the report informs about the company´s
highlights, product and process develop-
ments, global goals as well as local initia-
tives. It also reports on its vision to be the
most sustainable coatings company, to be
an employer of choice, and to practice
social responsibility as well as adhere to
transparent and ethical governance.
This is Beckers Group´s second
Sustainability Report and it fulfills the re-
quirements of GRI, the Global Reporting
Initiative (G3.1 Application Level C).
Some highlights from the report:
• Beckers wins Sustainable Innovation
Award for its Beckry Therm
technology
• Environmental goals developed to
reduce VOC, waste and energy by
10% each
• First coil coatings launched based on
bio-sourced raw materials
