Fresh Paint
paint dry.’ But the report provides a
fascinating insight into an industry
that is constantly innovating and has
a very exciting future in store.”
One of the major chapters in the
report is the market analysis compiled
by Euromonitor, which offers a positive
outlook for the industry. “The coatings
market is forecast to show healthy
growth, with pockets of fast growth in
Eastern Europe, parts of Asia and in
product categories which answer
changing demand patterns, notably
those which offer environmental benefit combined with effectiveness and
cost efficiency,” the report said.
In addition to analyzing the industry
both in terms of region and sector, “The
Global Coatings Report 2006” also
addresses the commitment of the industry to continuous improvement in environmental performance and takes a
glimpse into the future.
NCOAT’S NANO-STRUCTURED
COATING WINS AWARD
nCoat, Inc., an emerging nanotechnology company in the high performance coatings market, has won the
Utah Innovations Award in the
Chemicals/Materials Science category of the fourth annual Stoel Utah
Innovations Awards competition.
The winning nCoat nanotechnology-based coating is designed to protect
materials requiring a high level of
heat resistance. The nCoat coating has
been tested for use on space vehicles to
create thermal barriers upon re-entry.
It has been tested to withstand temperatures in excess of 4,200ºF for sustained durations.
PCI HONORS HANI AZZAM
The Powder Coating Institute (PCI)
honored Hani Azzam, a powder coating
pioneer who has made major contribu-
tions to the powder coating industry,
with a PCI Hall of Fame Award at the
2006 PCI Annual Meeting, May 23rd, at
the La Quinta Resort, in La Quinta, CA.
Hani Azzam was introduced by
newly elected PCI secretary-treasurer
Chris Merritt of ITW Gema, who gave
a detailed account of Azzam’s career
and accomplishments in the powder
coating industry.
A founding member of PCI in 1981,
Azzam was an effective promoter of
powder coatings in the early years,
and helped attract new members to
PCI during this period.
He was one of the pioneers of electrostatic powder coating application,
bringing the Gema application equipment line to the U.S. in 1969. He
served on the PCI board of directors
from 1981 to 1983, and has been a participant in PCI and the technology of
powder coating for over 30 years. CW
CATERPILLAR SELECTS DELMIA IGRIP
Dassault Systèmes, which is active in 3-D and product lifecycle management solutions, announced that
its Delmia Igrip robotic solution and UltraPaint
have been implemented at the Caterpillar facility in
Decatur, IL to assist in the upgrade of the company’s
robotic paint production lines where a number of
new robots have been installed requiring intensive
re-programming.
Igrip is a physics-based, scalable robotic simulation
solution for quick and graphical modeling and off-line
programming (OLP) of complex, multi-device robotic
workcells for applications such as painting, welding,
dispensing, material removal and machine tending.
The OLP capability allows users to accurately program robotic systems without tying up physical
resources on the factory floor thereby reducing man-hours and process engineering lead-time while
improving accuracy, according to the company.
Included with the UltraPaint is a complete set of
painting simulation tools. Spray gun and paint
attributes can be entered into the painting device and
the results can be graphically displayed in multiple
colors illustrating relative film thickness or exact
Delmia Igrip’s UltraPaint was implemented by Caterpillar to
upgrade and offline program the company’s new robotic paint
production lines. UltraPaint provides the tools to analyze
paint deposition parameters such as air pressure, fan width,
fluid delivery and TCP speed.
thickness can be obtained though the use of a built-in
film build gauge. Complex paint booths can be constructed, and multiple robot moving line applications
can be simulated.
