Jonkman Coating and Henkel - truly focused on a sustainable future

Harmen IJdema, Director: Jonkman Coating is a specialist in powder coating, spray painting and chemical pretreatment. We mostly operate as a job coater, and five years ago we decided to develop a vertical production line for aluminum profiles with pre-anodization – because we believe pre-anodization is the future.

We had experience of using chrome-free technologies, as well as solutions containing Cr3 and Cr6. Switching to pre-anodization adds an extra step in the pretreatment process, which means extra costs. That’s why we tried to automate our process as much as possible to minimize additional costs and avoid increasing the price of the product.

When we designed and built our factory, we always kept a strong focus on making sure our products offer the highest level of quality. At the same time, the process had to be technically feasible and costs had to be acceptable, while everything had to meet environmental requirements too. One of the advantages of building a new line is that you can optimize it in terms of quality, safety and sustainability – so you can really build a factory for the future.

HI: Alongside creating the new production line, we looked for partners who could provide valuable support and help to take our company to the next level. The companies that worked with us on topics like energy efficiency, chemical pretreatment, anodizing and water treatment were more than just suppliers – they were real partners. For that reason, we spent a lot of time selecting them. In particular, we wanted to work with companies who were truly focused on the future.

I worked for Qualicoat in the Netherlands for three years, as part of the Technical Committee. We always aimed to boost quality, and this mission brought me into contact with technical experts around the globe. Qualicoat has several working groups, including the Pre-Anodization working group. During meetings for this group, I got to know the specialists at Henkel.

When it came to selecting our chemical supplier, we placed a particularly strong focus on the combination of chemical pretreatment and pre-anodization. We discussed our requirements with a team of Henkel specialists from Belgium, France, Germany, Italy and Spain. We decided to work with Henkel because research was carried out very professionally, it has an enormous R&D facility in Germany, and an exciting vision for the future. Naturally, starting up the line was very important, but it was also essential to have reliable support. We have a fixed point of contact who speaks our language, which makes a big positive impact for the people in our organization because we feel peace of mind, while also knowing Henkel offers a large global network too.

It has now been 18 months since we started our new line, and our partnership with Henkel has fully lived up to our expectations. They are not only concerned about Henkel-related topics. They also contribute great ideas about areas like water purification installation, and can get in contact with a Henkel specialist in that specific area. For me, Henkel is not an average supplier, they are a real partner!

HI: Yes, we certainly did! It’s still quite unusual to have an integrated, vertical powder coating line with pre-anodization. We chose a mechanical, chemical and electrochemical pretreatment approach – all in a single production line. This was because the requirements of the Qualicoat and GSB International quality standard for coatings are high, and also because we wanted a lot of extra automatic control measurement in the line, which is why we chose Henkel's measuring and control equipment. We found out that the collaboration inside Henkel is also very good, because an Italian pump specialist from Henkel knew exactly which chemistry was being pumped with the corresponding viscosity, for example. The start-up for our production line with the French and Belgian team also went very smoothly!

HI: We chose the most environmentally compatible products from the Henkel BONDERITE^® portfolio for our process. On top of this, chromium-free and low-temperature solutions were also important for us. I was impressed by Henkel’s product range and its 25-year experience of chromium-free conversion layers. Our process needed to be Qualicoat certified, so the chemistry involved also had to have this certificate. That’s why we selected BONDERITE^® products that all have this label, and this has helped us to create an economically optimal process in terms of chemical consumption.

HI: In the near future, we are going to begin the second phase of our factory. This will involve building horizontal powder coating lines and closing our old factory. In doing so, we will continue to apply the same vision as we did during the first phase – with a clear focus on automation, production, Industry 4.0, environmental compatibility and sustainability.

I’d like to work more closely with Henkel's R&D people when engineering the production lines, because I have the feeling that there is even more, we can do to apply new developments in our industry more broadly and more quickly. Direct contact between the R&D team at Henkel and the end user is also important, because it creates an even better picture of the user’s future needs.

I look forward to cooperating with the Henkel team in the future!