The Netherlands-based chemical firm Stahl Group has reportedly announced to have launched its first center of excellence for powder coatings at L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona in Spain. As per trusted sources, the strategic location of the new testing and knowledge center would enable the company to accelerate the pace of its services across the major European markets.
Reportedly, Stahl Group aims to strengthen its spot as a leading supplier of environment-friendly UV and ULB powder coatings for heat-sensitive substrates in architectural and interior applications. Sources familiar with the development claim that the new center is the outcome of the recent acquisition of the R&D operations of OEM NuTech, an Australia-headquartered firm which specializes in manufacturing powder-coating products and processes pertaining to heat-sensitive materials.
OEM NuTech and Stahl have been reportedly working jointly since July 2015. Both the firms have developed a unique system for creating eco-friendly and high-quality powder coatings. A press release issued by Stahl Group quoted the Director for Performance Coatings & Polymers, Uwe Siebgens stating that the new Center of Excellence for Powder Coatings has enabled the company to contribute even more substantially to meet the increasing demand from the industry by offering an efficient, sustainable, and innovative solution without utilizing VOCs.
The new facility allows the employees of Stahl to work closely with other stakeholders to continuously optimize existing solutions and develop new ones. The company can now run trials and demonstrate new solutions as a result of the addition of the expertise of OEM NuTech in Australia, Siebgens further added.
For the record, Stahl Group now has eight centers of excellence across the globe where its experts work to develop and test new applications for specific business verticals. The new center of excellence for powder coatings is situated at one of the two manufacturing sites of Stahl in Barcelona, cite sources.
