News from the IFO

In mid-January, the Quali Middle East Association (QMEA) invited all interested companies in Egypt to an information seminar in Cairo. More than 200 participants, including architects, coaters and suppliers, attended the successful event.
Albertus de Boer, of IFO Middle East and Head of Training and Seminars at QMEA, moderated and led the seminars on offer, and provided information about QMEA’s IFO-supported services in the areas of Qualicoat, Qualanod and Qualisteelcoat.

The Quali Middle East Association (QMEA) is the general licence holder for the QUALICOAT, QUALANOD and QUALIDECO quality marks in the Middle East. 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.

For years now, and this year is no exception, QUBUS and IFO have been providing financial support to the Pro-Waisenhaus initiative (www.pro-waisenhaus.de). The charity „Pro-Waisenhaus Süd-Ost-Asien mildtätiger e.V.“ has set itself the aim of enabling children in the Myanmar region of Burma to lead a dignified life.
Dr Amanatidis, a former paediatrician from Bietigheim-Bissingen, is devoting all his energy to creating a new future for the children. The orphanage, built with donations, provides a home for 135 children. The children are accommodated in rooms with 12 or 15 beds, each of which has an en-suite bathroom with a shower. There are separate common rooms and a kitchen. It is a large, new house designed with children’s needs in mind. The children are looked after until they have completed their education and are able to lead independent lives.

At the joint Christmas party organised by the IFO Institute for Surface Technology and QUBUS Planning and Consulting for Surface Technology GmbH, Nicole Kässer and Jörg Bihlmaier were honoured for 10 years’ service. Agnes Schmidt was recognised for 18 years’ service and bid farewell as she entered her well-deserved retirement. The management honoured the employees celebrating their anniversaries for their long-standing support and loyalty to the company and expressed their heartfelt thanks for their dedication.

They are quite large, colourful and highly sought-after collector’s items – once again this year, the management is handing out Ritzenhoff’s colourful designer coffee mugs to the staff at QUBUS and IFO in Schwäbisch Gmünd. For several years now, staff have been delighted by this lovely gesture at Christmas time, and every year there is great anticipation as to which of the many mug designs is hidden inside the decorative box.

SF China, the successful international trade fair for the coatings industry, took place in Shanghai from 15 to 17 November.
Companies specialising in surface technology, corrosion protection, powder technology, robotics and environmental protection showcased their expertise to an industry audience. Once again this year, the IFO Institute and QUBUS were represented at the joint stand of the GSTC (German Surface Technology Centre), the one-stop shop for surface technology. Marc Holz, Managing Director of IFO Germany, who was on site during the trade fair, looks back on three successful and exciting days at the event together with his colleagues from IFO and QUBUS in China. Together with the companies Munk, Linhoff and Harter Drying Solutions, the fair provided an opportunity to maintain and strengthen existing business relationships with customers and partners, as well as to establish many new contacts.

Derek Ding, IFO China, and Marc Holz, IFO Germany, attended this year’s ALPC 2017, the Aluminium Processing Technology Conference, in Dali, southern China. Over the course of two days, national and international speakers were invited to deliver technically oriented presentations to representatives of China’s aluminium industry. The IFO Institute was also represented at the annual conference with a specialist presentation: nearly 2,000 conference participants attended the bilingual presentation by Marc Holz and Derek Ding on the subject of expert witness work in Europe.

Hangzhou IFO Quality Testing Co., Ltd., China, was commissioned by GCA, a Chinese car manufacturer, to provide consultancy services relating to corrosion and surface protection. During an on-site meeting, issues were discussed and specified in greater detail. To this end, Marc Holz, Managing Director of the IFO Institute for Surface Technology in Germany, travelled to Guangdong Province with his Chinese colleagues at the beginning of November. Alongside issues relating to automotive manufacturing, attention was also paid to the external appearance of the façade, and cleaning in accordance with the Quality Association for the Cleaning of Metal Façades was recommended.

With its new CNC slotting cutter, the IFO Institute is well equipped to meet the forthcoming new requirements for the test procedure in accordance with ISO 12944-9.

The draft standard now requires a milled scratch to be applied: to ensure optimal comparability of the test results, the mechanically produced scratch must be applied to each test plate in such a way that it reaches down to the base material. All the new standard requirements regarding cutting depth, alignment and dimensions are easily met by the milling machine used at IFO.

The IFO Institute for Surface Technology is taking part in the annual industrial coatings trade fair in Wetzlar. On 26 and 27 October, the coatings industry will gather in Wetzlar to find out about the latest developments. The IFO will also be represented with an exhibition stand and a specialist presentation entitled "Corrosion protection of steel components in relation to structural engineering conditions", which will be delivered by the expert Marc Holz.

PIB leaflet

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Once again this year, QUBUS Planung und Beratung Oberflächentechnik GmbH and the IFO Institute for Surface Technology will be exhibiting at the ZVO Surface Technology Days in Berlin. Please visit us at stand no. 45 or attend the presentations on 14 September 2017:

Environment and Health and Safety, REACH: Case study – Impact of the implementation of the new Major Accidents Regulations (Frank Schüle/Head of the Environment, Health and Safety, and Fire Safety Division)

Energy efficiency, material efficiency and sustainability strategies in electroplating: Efficient and holistic material flow and plant planning for electroplating operations in the age of "Industry 4.0" (Kolja Berg/Management, PL Engineering, and Christian Deyhle/Managing Partner, QUBUS)