MacDermid Sponsors Automotive Decorative Finishes Seminar in Germany

 

MacDermid held a decorative automotive supply chain seminar in June at the prestigious Automuseum in Ladenburg, Germany. Attendees were updated on REACh as it relates to the “Plating on Plastic” industry and were introduced to MacDermid’s latest innovations in hexavalent chromium-free pretreatment and plating technology.

 

Among the many topics that were discussed, of high interest was a talk by Dipl. Ing. Marina Engelking of Volkswagen outlining the increasing use of calcium and magnesium chloride as de-icing salts in Germany. Due to this VW has implemented two new accelerated tests, VW PV 1073-A and PV 1073-B, which will be incorporated into the TL 528 technical specification for chromium plated surfaces.

 

The increasing use of trivalent chromium in markets around the world was also discussed. Additionally, a chromium-free etching process for plastic was introduced. MacDermid’s evolve process, which is chromium, PFOS, SVHC and permanganate-free, requires no extra process tanks or processing times when compared to conventional metallization cycles. Production is currently meeting automotive standards and has demonstrated etch topography and adhesion values similar to chromic acid based processes.

 

MacDermid is also planning a POP plating summit to be held in the Detroit area this October for applicators in North America. For more information on this upcoming event, please contact rmancinone@macdermid.com or kmoore@macdermid.com. You can also visit macdermid.com