PaintExpo – Coating Technology Innovations And Trends

With over 450 companies, the 5th PaintExpo in Karlsruhe from 8 to 11 April 2014 will have more participating exhibitors than ever before. Exhibitors from 23 countries will present solutions for more efficient liquid painting, powder coating and coil coating on more than 133,000 square feet of net exhibition floor space. Offerings which cover a broad variety of industries and materials encompass the entire process sequence from pre-treatment, right on up to quality control and packaging.

More than 450 exhibitors will present products, processes and services exclusively from the field of industrial coating technology at PaintExpo at the Karlsruhe Exhibition Centre from the 8th through the 11th of April, 2014. They’ll travel to the event from 23 countries, and roughly 25% of the participating companies come from outside of Germany. As compared with its last event in 2012, the 5th leading international trade fair for industrial coating technology is distinguished by approximately 10% growth in exhibitor numbers. Occupied net exhibition floor space has also experienced a significant boost of about 19% to 133,000 square feet. Available booth locations are nearly booked out.

Experience New Products Live
“PaintExpo 2014 will not only showcase the world’s most comprehensive offerings for liquid painting, powder coating and coil coating, it will also present innovations, further developments and new trends in all of the sectors represented at the exhibition. Numerous live demonstrations will await the visitors”, reports Jürgen Haußmann, managing director of event promoters FairFair GmbH. For example, the demonstration of UV technology which cures the painted object within a matter of seconds in an inert gas atmosphere is at the height of fashion. At another booth, a compact, fully automated powder coating machine will coat small parts in continuous operation. An innovative light tunnel allows for reliable inspection of painted auto bodies. Visitors will be able to see for themselves how quickly and reliably defects are detected at a live demonstration. Where conveyor technology and automation of the painting process with robots are concerned, various “moving” exhibits will substantiate just how flexible and adaptable these systems are today, and how easy they are to programme.

Innovative Solutions for Everything from Pre-Treatment to Packaging
And the list of offerings covering innovations and further developments is far from exhausted here. For example, exhibitors will present new processes and products for more efficient and ecological cleaning and pre-treatment of metallic surfaces – amongst others solutions based on renewable raw materials. New solutions for blasting, grinding and ionising metal, plastic and wooden surfaces will also be premiered at PaintExpo, as well as system concepts which reduce energy consumption for powder coating and liquid painting, and at the same time increase flexibility with regard to processes, manufacturing lot quantities and expandability. Where application is concerned, new and enhanced paint guns and atomisers, as well as alternative atomising gases, are increasing material efficiency and improving quality.

The exhibitors at this year’s PaintExpo will also present lots of new products in the areas of liquid and UV paint systems, as well as powdered enamel systems. Amongst other things, emphasis in the field of powdered enamels will be placed on further improvement of corrosion protection, lower baking temperatures and reduced material consumption with the help of ultrathin-layer systems. New processes, for instance for energy-saving powder coatings and the production of chrome-VI-free surfaces, will also be presented at PaintExpo.

Perhaps somewhat less spectacular but no less interesting are innovations in the field of test and inspection systems, accessories such as covering materials, painting hangers, filters and pumps, as well as paint stripping and packaging solutions.

In cooperation with the DFO e.V. (German research association for surface finishing), an expert forum will take place on all four days of this year’s PaintExpo with interesting presentations held in German from all fields of industrial coating technology. The spectrum ranges from issues concerning process optimisation for liquid painting and powder coating, as well as pre-treatment and quality control, right on up to environmental engineering and purification technology.

PaintExpo will take place at the Karlsruhe Exhibition Centre from 8 through 11 April 2014, and will be open Tuesday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The WTT Expo trade fair for industrial heating and cooling technology and the HallTec trade fair for technical building equipment for industry and the commercial trades will take place concurrent to PaintExpo 2014 from Tuesday through Thursday.