In-depth knowledge of materials and formulations, constant updating on technological processes and innovations, in a nutshell, specific technical skill; today these play an essential role in the sales action, in particular that of products for surface treatments and finishes.
In today’s market, selling a product does not merely and does not only mean concluding a sale, but rather being able to provide comprehensive answers and solutions targeted to the client’s needs; for this reason not only is it essential to have technical knowledge of the product in terms of variety and characteristics, but also to be aware of all topics connected to its use and application, i.e. materials to be treated, characteristics of surfaces, exposure, corrosion, etc.
With this in mind, Europolveri SpA, an important name in the powder coating sector, for some time now has been planning training and refresher courses for its sales force. Within this context, for 2010 Europolveri has organised a series of training days on the subject of surface treatments.
Together with Dollmar SpA, a prestigious partner in the sector of chemicals and plants, Europolveri organised the first of these appointments as a common technical training and refresher project on the subject of surface treatments, with workshops held on the 12th and 19th of February in Caleppio di Settala (Milan).
The two days of the course dealt with all aspects, problems and developments related to surface pre-treatment processes to reduce oxidation/corrosion and improve adhesion, also on critical substrates.
On the first day, subjects and topics for discussion were centred on:
– nature, causes and effects of corrosion;
– characterisation of surfaces;
– substrate preparation and pollutant removal;
– surface conversion, i.e. analysis of the various processes, such as amorphous and crystalline phosphating, chromating and the like, aimed at protecting surfaces from oxidation and giving greater consistency to paint adhesion;
– nanotechnologies and surface passivation with nanoparticles.
On the second day, the following aspects were analysed in depth:
– processes for aluminium (Qualicoat);
– processes for magnesium;
– surface conversion and analysis of chromating processes and non-chrome processes, for example using fluozirconate and fluotitanate;
– tests on painted products: space in which corrosion tests in saline mist were carried out in conformity with ASTM B117, analysis of the saline mist test evaluation criteria and parameters; use of potentiodynamic curves as a useful instrument for investigating and characterising materials.
Besides laboratory simulation of the various pre-treatment processes and subsequent analysis of the effects of some parameters, at the end of the two days, a space was dedicated to the analysis of a series of different case histories illustrating company choices that have made it possible to provide tangible answers and solutions to requirements related to the optimisation of processes, costs and execution times.
Two days during which sales staff were without doubt given the opportunity to expand their background, not only of knowledge and technical up-dates, but also of company experiences and choices aimed at tangibly improving and specialising production processes and, therefore, results.
Research, technology and innovation move very fast and in order to keep up Europolveri will undoubtedly dedicate more space to training and refresher courses.
