Oberboihingen, Germany, June 2015 - When it comes to painting and coating processes, the aim around the globe is to cut unit costs while simultaneously improving quality, productivity and sustainability. PaintExpo will be presenting solutions that focus on achieving these aims. Ten months before it is due to start, the trade fair already has over 300 companies on its list of exhibitors (status as of 15th June 2015). The leading international trade fair for industrial coating technology will be held at the fairground in Karlsruhe in Southern Germany from 19th to 22nd April 2016. The wide range of exhibits on show varies from pretreatment right through to quality control and packaging.

Regardless of the branch of industry concerned and the coating materials used, contract coaters and in-house painting companies throughout the world are faced with the challenge of making processes more efficient and sustainable. This can only be achieved by using as little material and energy as possible to generate the required surface quality as well as by maximizing productivity. To meet these requirements, from 19th to 22nd April 2016 PaintExpo will be presenting products and services along the entire process chain for wet painting, powder coating and coil coating. These will be presented in such a diversity that has never seen anywhere else in the world. For this reason, by mid-June over 300 companies from 19 countries had already confirmed bookings for their booths at the leading international trade fair for industrial coating technology in Karlsruhe (Germany).

"But it's not just the facts and figures that please us. We also have well-known companies who have registered for the forthcoming PaintExpo for the first time. That is why we can already say today that practically all market and technology leaders will be present in Karlsruhe," reported J?rgen Haussmann, Managing Director of FairFair GmbH and organizer of PaintExpo."

In all probability, in-house painting companies and contract coaters will find the solutions they need at the forthcoming PaintExpo. Due to their energy-saving potentials and improved environmental compatibility, nano-based systems are increasingly being favored by all sectors of industry for the pretreatment of metal substrates. When it comes to cleaning and pretreating plastic components, alternative technologies - such as CO2 snow-jet cleaning, plasma-cleaning and steam-cleaning - are becoming more and more popular. These technologies can be integrated into painting lines to save on costs, energy consumption and space.

Manufacturers are offering equipment and optimisation concepts as solutions to cope with ever-smaller batch sizes and the ever-growing colour spectrum. Aimed at flexibility and efficiency, these guarantee an optimum quality of coatings. New developments in drying technologies and feeding systems are helping to reduce energy consumption and thus lower costs per piece. Both are designed to minimize conditioned air and heat losses. Cost savings are also being made through the use of "off-the-peg" painting robots and automation solutions, which enable paint to be applied more accurately and reject rates to be decreased. Another way of reducing material consumption and increasing flexibility is to implement intelligent paint logistics with paint supply systems.

Promising developments are currently being made in the field of wet painting - with regard to both metal and plastic substrates - and also in coating systems, with the goal of reducing the number of process steps required. Efforts to replace solvent paints with water-based alternatives also continue unceasingly. The current trend in powder paints is towards systems, which enable thinner, high-quality and highly-resistant layers to be produced. Coating systems which crosslink at lower curing temperatures also continue to be a priority.

The range of exhibits at PaintExpo includes equipment for wet-painting and powder-coating, application systems and spray guns, wet and dry paints, automation and feeding technologies, cleaning and pretreatment, drying and hardening, environmental technology, compressed air systems, air supply and exhaust air purification, water treatment, recycling and disposal, accessories, measuring and testing technologies, quality assurance, paint stripping, contract coating, services and specialist literature. Downstream operations such as printing and packaging are also covered.

This is also the range of exhibits that will be on show at the 3rd PaintExpo Eurasia, trade fair for industrial coating technology in Istanbul, Turkey, from 15th to 17th October 2015. The Eurasian offshoot is mutually organized by FairFair GmbH and Artkim Fuarcilik.

For further information and a preliminary list of exhibitors, see www.paintexpo.de