News from the IFO

The IFO Academy’s new course programme for the second half of the year offers three new courses in partnership with QUBUS, alongside courses on corrosion protection and coatings. The new courses are „Management Systems in Surface Technology“, „Caution: Hazardous Substances! – Handling and Using Hazardous Substances Safely“ and „Storing Hazardous Substances Correctly“. The first course, „Management Systems in Surface Technology“, starts in mid-October. It introduces participants to the fundamentals and requirements of management systems in the areas of quality, environmental and energy management, as well as their successful application in organising customer and regulatory requirements. Two courses will be held on the subject of hazardous substances in the field of environmental protection and occupational health and safety; these will teach participants how to handle, use and store hazardous substances correctly. In all courses, we focus on providing practical insights into the various subject areas and offer a comprehensive overview of the course topic.

Take this opportunity to secure the early-bird discount for the IFO Academy training course „Corrosion Protection through Coatings“ before 15 August 2019. The training course will take place in Schwäbisch Gmünd on 12 September 2019. Our speakers, Matthias Bader and Marc Holz, will explain common problems relating to the corrosion protection of components and provide you with plenty of practical examples of how to prevent and resolve corrosion damage.

At this year’s summer party and in-house exhibition, both customers and staff visited the stands to find out more about the wide-ranging expertise of the individual IFO and QUBUS divisions. With a relaxed atmosphere and good food, the festival and exhibition provided the ideal opportunity for many interesting conversations and insights into the group of companies and our unique network of experts.

IFO China has once again been accredited by the Chinese general licensee, QUALISINO. This authorises IFO China to carry out inspections for the approval and renewal of QUALIDECO licences.A key objective of QUALISINO’s work as an association is to provide and promote established quality standards and best manufacturing practices in order to ensure high-quality coatings on aluminium and aluminium surfaces. The association holds the rights to the QUALICOAT, QUALANOD and QUALIDECO quality marks. QUALIDECO is the international quality mark for specialised finishes that can be applied to coated aluminium.

Our trainees, Violetta Henkel and Fabio Meloni, each received an award for special projects undertaken as part of their training.

Violetta Henkel took part in the school competition "Leaving – Arriving – Returning – Baden-Württemberg and Eastern Europe", organised by the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs, and the Haus der Heimat, and was awarded a certificate and a prize.

Fabio Meloni took part in an Erasmus project entitled "Gender Equality – Career Development Potential in a European Comparison" and completed the project with a three-week stay abroad in London, UK, and a project assignment. As part of this, he received a certificate and the "Europass Mobility" to confirm his study placements in other European countries.

We would like to congratulate Violetta Henkel and Fabio Meloni on their award and are delighted with their commitment, motivation and new experiences.

There are still places available for the training course "Caution: Hazardous Substances! – Handling and Using Hazardous Substances Safely", which takes place on 26 June 2019. The seminar provides a practical overview of the requirements for the correct handling and use of hazardous substances in the workplace.

This training course is aimed at staff in production and the warehouse, as well as trainee occupational health and safety specialists, environmental protection specialists and safety officers. Further information on the training course can be found here.

On 28 March 2019, pupils at the IFO Institute for Surface Technology had the opportunity to learn about a wide range of activities carried out in the laboratory. The taster day provided information about the laboratory’s various departments and technological, chemical and physical processes, such as corrosion testing, residual contamination analysis and coating thickness measurement. The pupils were also able to gain a good insight into the career opportunities available in the laboratory. A particular highlight was the imaging using the scanning electron microscope, which Dr Fiedler (Research and Development Expertise) explained using many clear examples.

On 5 April 2019, the 4th Pulver Pit Stop took place in Götzis, Vorarlberg. The IFO Institute was there to share experiences on new technologies and techniques relating to surface powder coating. We were delighted to have had so many interesting conversations at our stand and to have welcomed you to our presentation. "Cleanability of decorative finishes" with Lars Walther, GRM Gütegemeinschaft Reinigung von Fassaden e.V. and Ulrike Kreuzer, IFO Institut für Oberflächentechnik GmbH.

IFO China is inspecting the first Chinese manufacturer of films for decorative finishes on coated aluminium profiles in Foshan (China) in accordance with the QUALIDECO standard. The steady demand for certified products reflects a trend towards higher quality standards in new sectors of industry. IFO China carries out inspections in China and neighbouring countries in South-East Asia on behalf of the Chinese master licensee, QUALISINO.

The Chinese quality association QUALISINO is dedicated to quality assurance in surface finishing processes and awards the internationally recognised QUALICOAT and QUALANOD quality marks. A key objective of the association’s work is to provide and promote established quality standards and best manufacturing practices in order to ensure high-quality coatings on aluminium and aluminium surfaces.

Further information:

QUALISINO: www.qualisino.com

QUALICOAT: www.qualicoat.net

QUALANOD: www.qualanod.net

The 25th China Window Door Facade Expo took place in Guangzhou from 4 to 6 March. To mark the 25th anniversary, over 700 international and local manufacturers and suppliers exhibited. Together with our Chinese colleagues on site, we had many opportunities for productive and pleasant discussions with trade visitors from both home and abroad.