EC - Qualicoat

Minutes of the Executive Committee meeting
held in Zurich on 8 November 2012, 9:30 – 16:00 hours
ATTENDING:
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
REPRESENTATIVES OF THE COATING INDUSTRY
BECKER Alexa (Ms.)
GERMANY
BOI Riccardo
ITALY
COLOMBIER Caroline
FRANCE
DEROUEN Franck
FRANCE
HEITZELMANN Ralf
GERMANY
LI JERRY (Ms.)
CHINA
MODAR AL MEKDAD Mohamed
MIDDLE EAST
PANAM Mohammed (President)
UK & IRELAND
VERMEEREN Ivo
BELGIUM
VIESTER Frank
NETHERLANDS
REPRESENTATIVES OF THE POWDER AND PAINT INDUSTRY
BERNABÉ Juan Antonio
SPAIN
JELONEK Andrzej
POLAND
LEGIDIS Savvas
SWITZERLAND
REPRESENTATIVE OF CHEMICAL SUPPLIERS
SEQUEIRA António
PORTUGAL
GUESTS
TECHNICAL COMMITTEE MEMBERS
ARRANZ Andrés
BANULS Anne (Ms.)
CASATI Giuseppe
GHALEM Adel
SERRET Juan
OTHERS
CENTURA Charlene (Ms.)
SECRETARIAT
BELLOT Pascale
SCHOPPIG Josef (Minutes)
APOLOGIES:
MEIJWAARD Pauline (Ms.)
ULUCAK Timur
SPAIN
FRANCE
ITALY
FRANCE
SPAIN
MIDDLE EAST
SWITZERLAND
SWITZERLAND
NETHERLANDS
TURKEY
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Executive Committee (8 November 2012)
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AGENDA
1. Antitrust reminders
2. Minutes of the meeting held in Zurich on 10 May 2012
3. Technical Committee’s resolutions
4. Project management
5. Requests and proposals from the Working Groups (non-technical matters)
1. Accreditation WG – meeting held in Amsterdam on 23 July 2012
2. Other working groups
6. SEASIDE-QUALIMARINE – test programme schedule
7. Strategy
8. Conferences and contacts with other associations
1. Attendance at QUALISINO’s General Assembly
2. Presentations in Buenos Aires
3. Conference of Qualicoat Australia
4. Alufinish seminar
5. Contact with AEA / Alusil (Qualicoat Russia)
6. Relationship with GSB
7. Relationships with raw material suppliers
9. Situation in the countries
10. Any other business
11. Resolutions of the meeting
12. Next meeting
The Chairman, Mr. Panam, welcomed the delegates. He ascertained that 14 out of the 21
Executive Committee members were present or represented.
The revised agenda was unanimously approved by those present.
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Executive Committee (8 November 2012)
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1. Antitrust reminder
By signing the attendance sheet, those present acknowledged that they had been
made aware of competition compliance guidelines applying to the meeting.
2. Minutes of the EC meeting held on 10 May 2012
The minutes were unanimously approved.
3. Technical Committee’s resolutions
TC Resolutions Nos.1 to 33 were reviewed and fully endorsed.
4. Project management
At the previous meeting, several tasks had been designated as projects. However at
this meeting, it was decided that this item should be taken up again in the new
Accreditation and Strategy WG (see item 5.1 below).
5. Requests and proposals from the Working Groups (non-technical matters)
(Topics listed in the “Working Paper” prepared by the Secretariat)
5.1 Accreditation WG – meeting held in Amsterdam on 23 July 2012 (Topic
No. 1)
Mr. Panam informed those present about the WG’s proposal to accelerate formal
QUALICOAT accreditation. The Accreditation WG should also further develop project
management and strategy matters. For this reason, the current Accreditation WG
should encompass some of the activities of the Objectives WG, and a new
Accreditation and Strategy WG should be established.
Mr. Schoppig commented on the statement from the Swiss Accreditation Service
regarding a transfer of accreditation from ACT to QUALICOAT. He pointed out that the
accreditation was currently valid for both QUALICOAT and QUALANOD and could only
be transferred to one of these organisations. Therefore the matter had to be
considered by QUALANOD as well. However, QUALICOAT could also decide to apply
for new accreditation.
EC approved the objectives proposed by the Accreditation WG at its meeting held on
23 July 2012 (Resolution No.1).
EC decided to merge the Accreditation and Objectives working groups. The joint WG
would be called Accreditation and Strategy WG and would be chaired by the President
(Resolution No. 2).
EC asked the Extension WG to finish the projects that had been started and to
consider joining the new WG (Resolution No. 3).
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Executive Committee (8 November 2012)
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5.2 Other working groups
List of calibration tools (Topic No. 2)
The list originally prepared by the Laboratories WG had been submitted at the latest
QUALISURFAL meeting. The inspectors present at that meeting had come to the
conclusion that some of the proposed tools were not necessary as many instruments
available in the coaters’ laboratories were self-calibrating. Several counterproposals
had been prepared during that meeting.
Those present discussed the question of to what extent it was the inspector’s
responsibility to check whether the instruments at the coaters’ plants were working
properly or not, especially in the case of coaters which had self-calibrating devices or if
the instruments had been regularly calibrated by recognised third parties (suppliers of
the instruments). Some delegates argued that it was up to the inspector to take
calibration tools with him to an inspection to countercheck proper functioning of the
instruments.
After a lengthy discussion, the EC decided by 11 votes to 10 that the list of mandatory
calibration tools should be incorporated in the Specifications without the amendments
proposed by the QUALISURFAL Coating Section.
EC rejected the amendments made by QUALISURFAL to the list of mandatory
calibration tools and asked the Specifications WG to prepare an update sheet
(Resolution No 4).
Statistical evaluation of test results (AASS and FFC tests) (Topic No. 3)
This matter had already been dealt with at the TC meeting.
EC asked the Technical Director to prepare a final detailed proposal showing the scope
of the investigation to be carried out on AASS and FFC tests. A decision about the
budget would be taken at the next EC meeting (Resolution No. 5).
6. SEASIDE-QUALIMARINE – test programme schedule
At the previous EC meeting, it had been agreed that Mr. Boi would attend an ADAL
meeting in order to define the exact parameters of a possible additional investigation
and to clear up all possible ambiguities so that a final decision on this matter could be
taken at this EC meeting.
Mr. Boi had presented an initial draft of the test programme at the meeting of the
Aluminium WG held in Amsterdam in July. At that meeting, he had expressed his
opinion that he was not in favour of ADAL’s latest proposal to extend the AASS test to
1500 and 2000 hours as the test results would no longer be comparable if new
parameters were introduced. However, an extension to 2000 hours could be
considered for experimental purposes, but not to evaluate cycles. The new cycle D
should be compared to cycles A, B and C.
At that meeting, ADAL had also been asked to submit a final confirmation regarding its
will to accept the equivalence once the investigation had been carried out. In a letter
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Executive Committee (8 November 2012)
Q U A L I C O A T
dated 9 August, ADAL had said it required the AASS test to be increased to 2000
hours for the purpose of the study and also to create a background for collecting data
on how aluminium resisted such a high requirement. In this letter, ADAL had also
pointed out that, even if the equivalence was fully recognised, it was important to be
able to establish a ranking between the different cycles. The results should therefore
be evaluated according to a statistical ranking from Mann & Whitney in order to
compare the different cycles. At this meeting, Mr. Boi gave further details about the
diversified test programme.
Some delegates wondered whether ADAL would accept the test results even if they
showed that the old cycle A was equivalent to the old AA cycle but less good than the
SEASIDE requirements.
Mr. Panam argued that no ranking should be made if we accepted the 2000 hours,
provided the results of the former AA and A cycles were both positive and possibly
even if the results were different.
Mr. Ghalem explained that ADAL expected the AASS test to be extended to 2000
hours for the purpose of the study, whereas the requirements would be the same as for
1000 hours. If QUALICOAT was not willing to increase the requirement to 2000 hours,
ADAL would not accept equivalence between SEASIDE and QUALIMARINE except
between the former cycles AA and OX. ADAL would send another letter and confirm its
position.
7. Strategy
Those present agreed to address strategy issues within the new Accreditation and
Strategy WG.
8. Conferences and contacts with other associations
8.1 Attendance at QUALISINO’s General Assembly
As in previous years, Mr. Boi and Mr. Schoppig had attended QUALISINO’s General
Assembly in June as members of the Steering Committee that monitored the activities
of this association.
Ms. Li explained that QUALISINO did not have the same structure as other national
associations because the registration of associations was quite complicated in China.
However, she would take up the issue of establishing an Executive Committee to
replace the Steering Committee in the future.
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Executive Committee (8 November 2012)
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8.2 Presentations in Buenos Aires
In cooperation with a local manufacturer of approved alternative systems, the Spanish
testing laboratory, DECOTEC, had organised a seminar in Buenos Aires in July. Mr.
Bernabé had presented QUALIDECO and Mr. Arias all matters linked to inspections,
while Mr. Schoppig had given a comprehensive introduction to the quality labels.
8.3 Conference of Qualicoat Australia
Mr. Boi had delivered a presentation at a conference organised by AIMF (the
QUALICOAT General Licensee in Australia and New Zealand) in September. He had
also attended a meeting with the President and Vice President of Qualicoat Australia
and accompanied the inspector. He reported that Qualicoat Australia was considering
the introduction of a new accreditation scheme (on a national level) that would be less
rigorous than QUALICOAT. Such a new scheme could become a problem if coaters
decided to opt for this scheme rather than a QUALICOAT licence. However, more
details would be necessary to monitor the situation.
8.4 Alufinish seminar
Mr. Schoppig had been invited to deliver a presentation at a meeting of sales
managers. At this meeting, representatives had been present from countries in which
QUALICOAT wanted to promote itself. They would advise their customers to ask for a
QUALICOAT licence.
8.5 Contacts with AEA / Alusil (Qualicoat Russia)
During the Aluminium exhibition in Düsseldorf, Mr. Panam and Mr. Schoppig had briefly
met with representatives of Alusil with a view to the foundation of QUALICOAT Russia.
This matter had been discussed at previous EC meetings, and it had been questioned
whether Alusil and AEA were the appropriate partners to establish QUALICOAT in
Russia. This had been confirmed by a Russian coater holding a QUALICOAT licence.
Mr. Schoppig would pay a visit to Alusil to make sure that it clearly understood what the
rights and duties of a QUALICOAT representative were and what the role of a national
association was.
8.6 Relationship with GSB
At the same exhibition, Mr. Panam and Mr. Schoppig had had an informal meeting with
the President and Managing Director of GSB. It had been proposed that an annual
meeting between the Presidents and Managing Directors be held to maintain contact. A
meeting with further representatives could be considered if there were concrete issues
of mutual interest.
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Mr. Heitzelmann stated that many members of VOA would appreciate such contacts.
ESTAL had invited GSB to attend the next meeting of the JTC, but it was the JTC’s
clear intention not to address quality label matters.
Some delegates argued that meetings without concrete topics were of minor interest.
However, the EC endorsed the President’s approach and agreed that the contact
between QUALICOAT and GSB should be continued.
8.7 Relationships with raw material suppliers
Having been contacted by DSM (a resin manufacturer), Mr. Schoppig had held a
meeting where he gave information about QUALICOAT. DSM representatives were
interested in becoming active to anticipate developments in powder coatings. As direct
membership of QUALICOAT was currently not allowed under the Articles of
Association, Mr. Schoppig had extended an offer to the representatives of DSM to
attend a meeting of the Powders WG as guests.
Those present were in favour of such a relationship. However, it was agreed that the
Accreditation and Objectives WG should address the matter of relationships with all
kinds of suppliers and other interested third parties within the framework of the strategy
discussions.
9. Situation in the countries
It was agreed that the Secretariat would prepare statistics showing the number of
licensees and approved systems over the past years.
The list of current approved and cancelled licences would be attached to the minutes.
10. Any other business
Mr. Arranz’s resignation
Mr. Arranz announced his resignation as convenor of QUALISURFAL and convenor of
the Laboratories WG. He regretted not having been able to defend the proposals
submitted by QUALISURFAL.
Those present deeply regretted this decision and thanked Mr. Arranz for all his
valuable contributions over so many years. He was asked to reconsider his decision.
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Executive Committee (8 November 2012)
Q U A L I C O A T
Knowledge exchange
Mr. Modar proposed that an exchange of information about the various national
associations’ technical activities be established. At the EC meetings, each
representative could report on such specific projects if there were any.
Conference information on the website
Mrs. Becker suggested putting pictures from the various conferences attended by
QUALICOAT delegates on the website and giving a brief summary of the outcome of
such conferences.
Results of a study on the Kesternich test (resistance to humid atmospheres)
Mr. Boi told those present about the results of an investigation carried out by
QUALITAL. Colour change after the Kesternich test was observed mainly on structured
powders and with a black pigment that was very critical.
Those present agreed that this matter should be submitted to the Powders WG for
further consideration.
11. Resolutions of the meeting
All resolutions passed at the meeting were fully endorsed (see attached list of
resolutions).
12. Next meetings
The next meeting would be held in Amsterdam on 19 March 2013 and the meeting
after next in London on 23 May 2013.
H:\AC2\Q-COAT\PROTOK\VORSTAND\2012 2013\EC-11 2012-E.DOC
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Executive Committee (8 November 2012)
Q U A L I C O A T
Resolutions
Resolution No. 1/EC 08.11.12
EC approves the objectives proposed by the Accreditation WG (WP EC/08.11.12).
Resolution No. 2/EC 08.11.12
EC decides to merge the Accreditation and Objectives working groups. The joint WG will be
called Accreditation and Strategy WG and will be chaired by the President.
Resolution No. 3/EC 08.11.12
EC asks the Extension WG to finish the projects that have been started and to consider joining
the new Accreditation and Strategy WG.
Resolution No. 4/EC 08.11.12
EC rejects the amendments made by QUALISURFAL to the list of mandatory calibration tools
and asks the Specifications WG to prepare an update sheet.
Resolution No. 5/EC 08.11.12
EC asks the Technical Director to prepare a final detailed proposal showing the scope of the
investigation to be carried out on AASS and FFC tests. A decision about the budget will be
taken at the next EC meeting.
Resolution No. 6/EC 08.11.12
EC stipulates that the change of references from EN ISO to ISO standards (Resolution No. 12/TC
07.11.12) should be implemented in the next edition of the Specifications.
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