Intelligent Robot

Solutions

FT Online

Green is Beautiful

Hollman, Inc., of Irving, TX, is a leading manufacturer of lockers in the U.S. It is believed that more than 60% of all wood lockers here are modeled after the company's designs. Well aware that his company's dominance in the high-end locker market was the result of doing some important things the right way, company President Joe Hollman made the strategic decision to expand the business. At the same time, he was quick to grasp the importance of green manufacturing processes, even before the recent surge of interest in green building. When Hollman made the decision to launch a kitchen cabinetry line, he also made a commitment to dramatically reduce his company's volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions and make other modifications to the manufacturing process so that he could carve out a niche as a producer of a luxury line of eco-friendly kitchen cabinetry. Meeting this goal would require a high-performance waterborne finish - and Hollman found a coating that was up for the challenge...
More

Ask Joe Powder

Chrome Wheel Solutions
After reading the question about chrome powder in the December 2007 issue of Finishing Today ("Is it possible to achieve a chrome finish on wheels with powder?"), two suppliers wrote in to recommend products. Spectrum Metalworks has a product called PermaChrome™ that uses a chrome/nickel chrome physical vapor deposition followed by a clearcoat painting process. Alcoa offers a surface treatment called Durabright^® that is designed to keep aluminum wheels shiny. Go here to read more.

Do you have a powder coating question or feedback on a previous answer? E-mail Joe Powder!

Responses will run in future issues of Finishing Today and Finishing eFlash.

Last Week's Poll Results

Do you listen to podcasts?

*Sometimes - 50%

*Rarely or never - 50%

What industry-related podcasts would you be most likely to download?

*Solutions to common production problems - 33%

*CEO interviews - 17%

*General tips and troubleshooting - 17%

*Not interested - 33%

Thanks to everyone who participated!

Coming in April:

Finishing eFlash moves to Tuesdays! Now you can get all of the latest industry, company and product news one day earlier.

Still not fast enough? Sign up for our Breaking News alerts and get late-breaking news delivered directly to your e-mail inbox. Breaking news is also posted to FT's website, so be sure to bookmark the site and check back often!

In This Issue:

Product of the Week: Labor-Saving Robotic Equipment 
New Robotics Lab Supports Cutting-Edge Research 
Xiom Names Orica as Pacific & Southeast Asian Distributor 
Rohm and Haas Donates $25,000 toward Robotics Education 
Wheelabrator Blast Machine Featured on "Build it Bigger" 
ABS Approves SSPC PCI Program 
Tecnoglass Becomes First Int'l PPG Certified Applicator 
PaintExpo 2008 Exceeds Expectations 
EPA Seeks Comments on Aerosol Coatings Rule 
Corrosion-Resistant Coating Protects Composites and Metals  
Electroplating Chemistry Enhances Copper Planarity 
Boost Oven Promises Energy Reductions 
Modular Probe Measures Thin Coatings on Small Parts 
Literature Highlights New Abrasive Blasting Machine 
PSCT Holds Green Chemistry Symposium 
PACE 2009 Issues Call for Presentations 
Upcoming Events 
FT Online: Green is Beautiful 
Ask Joe Powder 
Last Week's Poll Results 

PRODUCT OF THE WEEK

Advertisement

FANUC Robotics’ P-250iA/15 Coating Robot
FANUC Robotics’ P-250iA/15 robot is a reliable and precise solution for coating consumer and automotive products, including plastic, metal and fiberglass parts. The six-axis, high-speed P-250i A/15 features a hollow wrist design and ‘best in class’ work envelope, offering flexibility and easy system integration for a wide range of paint process equipment. Floor and invert mounting, a slim arm and wrist, and multiple hose routing options allows the robot to access unusual or hard-to-reach parts, even in small workspaces.

1-800-iQ-ROBOT
marketing@fanucrobotics.com
fanucrobotics.com

FINISHING BUZZ

Motoman Inc. is helping to establish the Motoman Robotics Laboratory at the University of Dayton School of Engineering. As part of this long-term commitment, Motoman is furnishing $371,000 worth of state-of-the-art robots, including a revolutionary seven-axis, actuator-driven IA20 robot; a 15-axis, actuator-driven and human-like dual-arm DIA10 robot; a four-axis YS450 high-speed SCARA robot; two six-axis HP3 articulated robots and one HP3C six-axis, articulated robot with a compact controller.

Xiom Names Orica as Exclusive Pacific & Southeast Asian Distributor
Xiom Corp., developer and manufacturer of a portable plastic polymer spray system, has named Orica Powder and Industrial Coatings, a business unit within the Orica group of companies, to be its exclusive distributor in the Pacific and Southeast Asia.
Want More Details?

Rohm and Haas Donates $25,000 toward Robotics Education
Rohm and Haas Co. has awarded a $25,000 grant to FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) in support of the Philadelphia Regional Robotics Education Program.
Want More Information?

Wheelabrator Blast Machine Featured on "Build it Bigger"
A Wheelabrator  10-wheel blast machine made its television debut during a recent episode of the Discovery Channel's "Build it Bigger," a show that highlights great feats of engineering around the globe. The Wheelabrator machine completes the crucial process of cleaning rusty, dirty M1 Abrams Tanks before they are repainted and returned to combat service.
Want to View the Episode?

ABS Approves SSPC PCI Program
The American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), the world's 2nd largest commercial shipping classification society, has approved the Protective Coatings Inspector (PCI) program offered by SSPC: The Society for Protective Coatings as equivalent to NACE Coating Inspector Level 2 and FROSIO Inspector Level III.
Want More Information?

Tecnoglass Becomes First Int'l PPG Certified Applicator
Tecnoglass S.A. of Barranquilla, Colombia, has been accredited as the first international participant in the PPGCertified Applicator Program (CAP) - a group of commercial coating applicators certified by PPG Industries to apply high-performance fluoropolymer coatings to aluminum architectural components.
Want More Details?

PaintExpo 2008 Exceeds Expectations
A total of 5924 specialist visitors, roughly 20.5% more than at the premiere PaintExpo event in 2006, gathered in Karlsruhe, Germany, March 11-14 to browse the product offerings of 285 exhibitors (an 18% increase) from the field of coatings technology. The event covered the entire finishing process, from pretreatment and paint and application techniques to final inspection.
Want More Information?

EPA Seeks Comments on Aerosol Coatings Rule
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking direct final action to amend the National Volatile Organic Compound Emission Standards for Aerosol Coatings final rule, which is a rule that establishes national reactivity-based emission standards for the aerosol coatings category (aerosol spray paints) under the Clean Air Act.
Want More Details?

Return to Top

FINISHING INNOVATIONS

The new Nanovate™-NS coating from Integran Technologies Inc. is designed to protect composite and metal parts from rain erosion, sand erosion and other wear damage. The process achieves high strength and hardness through reducing the metal grain structure by 1000x, to the nanoscale.

Electroplating Chemistry Enhances Copper Planarity
Enthone, a business of Cookson Electronics, has been assigned U.S. Patent No. 7,316,772 for its ViaForm^® Leveler copper damascene electroplating chemistry. The product reportedly is the first leveler that enables a standard, three-part additive damascene plating system.
Want More Details?

Boost Oven Promises Energy Reductions
The latest fast-response electric infrared boost oven system from David Weisman, L.L.C., can quickly boost the temperatures of liquid or powder coated on small, medium and large three-dimensional products prior to entering a hot air/convection oven, thereby providing significant energy reductions.
Want More Information?

Modular Probe Measures Thin Coatings on Small Parts
Automation USA Inc. has expanded its modular system probe portfolio by designing the MI Fe 500 µm, a state-of-the-art pen-shaped probe for precision measurements of thin coatings on both normal and parts of small dimensions like screws, small machine parts, rings, braces, nails, beams or studs.
Want More Details?

Literature Highlights New Abrasive Blasting Machine
Four-color literature on a new abrasive blasting machine with numerous beneficial features is available from ALMCO, Inc. According to the manufacturer, the Model ATB-7 offers greater cleaning speed and better cycle times than tumble blast units from other sources for effective cleaning of castings and other metal parts.
Want More Information?

Return to Top

FINISHING AGENDA

PSCT Holds Green Chemistry Symposium
The Philadelphia Society for Coatings Technology will hold its "Green Chemistry" Symposium May 6-7, 2008, at The Williamson in Horsham, PA.
Want More Details?

PACE 2009 Issues Call for Presentations
PACE 2009, to be held February 15-18 in New Orleans, LA, has issued a call for presentations.
Want More Information?

Other Upcoming Events:
April 12-15: NCCA Spring Meeting
April 20-23: SSCT Technical Symposium
April 21-23: Coatings for Plastics Symposium
April 28-29: MacDermid Electroless Nickel School

Visit our online Agenda  for a complete list.

Do you know of an event that should be added to our calendar? Please e-mail Kristi Grahl.

Return to Top

Get the Latest Finishing Industry Information Exactly the Way You Want It!
Bring the articles from Finishing Today magazine to your desktop, internet browser, or even a mobile device using your favorite RSS reader.  Go here for more details!