8 NEWS www.finishingmagazine.co.uk A new president in town At the World Coatings Council’s annual meeting in March <strong>2022</strong>, Tom Bowtell, chief executive of the British Coatings Federation, was elected president for a two-year term of office. The World Coatings Council is made up of members representing associations from the United States, China, European Union, Brazil, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Malaysia, Canada, South Africa, Turkey, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. The Council, which provides a forum for exchange and cooperation on major issues and priorities facing the industry, has established itself as a global voice with the United Nations, Governments and NGOs for over 30 years. Tom Bowtell said of his presidency; “I’m incredibly honoured to have the trust of my industry colleagues from across the world to hold the president’s seat on behalf of the global coatings industry. I am looking forward to representing the industry and contributing to our global effort.” Sustainability will be an important theme of Tom’s Presidency, with the World Coatings Council publishing their first Sustainability Report later this year. Certificate renewed Vertik-Al is pleased to announce the successful renewal of its ISO 9001:2015 certificate. Underpinning its commitment to quality, the powder coating specialist has held the internationally recognised standard since 1994. ISO 9001:2015 encompasses the whole business, from management down to manufacturing procedures. Walking in the steps of a typical Vertik-Al customer the auditors conduct a robust assessment of the entire organisation. This audit was the first since the company revamped its quality management system. In the past year, the powder coater has taken a strategic approach to quality and made considerable effort to identify and manage risk through continuous improvement. “We have successfully reduced defects using problem-solving methods,” comments, Tristan Pope, technical manager at Vertik-Al. “We are also emphasising the role that data and customer feedback play in highlighting areas for improvement. This has been invaluable. Packing was identified as an area of concern, for example, and changes here have led to greater customer satisfaction. Conference line-up launched Following the formal launch of the QUALICOAT UK & Ireland conference <strong>2022</strong> – Futureproofing Facades, the QUALICOAT membership is extremely excited to release the first names from its speaker lineup. Architect by trade, TV presenter, and formerly the President of the Royal Institute of British Architects, Maxwell Hutchinson is announced as keynote speaker. A prolific broadcaster and best-selling author, Maxwell will draw on his vast experience and incredible work history to produce an inspirational and enlightening session. As an architect Maxwell is best known for buildings such as Skylines on the Isle of Dogs, Aztec Row in Islington and Pink Floyd’s recording studio in Britannia Row. For ten years he was Chairman of the Permorock Group of Building Product Manufacturing Companies, of which he was founder. Qualicoat held its first hybrid meeting recently and it all went to plan The first ‘hybrid’ members meeting of the year was held at the Arden Hotel, Solihull in March and was well attended by members both in person and online. Besides the continued growth of QUALICOAT in the UK & Ireland, the main topic of discussion was the upcoming ‘Future Proofing Facades’ event that is to take place on the 14th <strong>June</strong> at the Building Centre, Store Street, London. Aimed at facade specifiers, the ‘Future Proofing Facades’ conference aims to offer both an update as to where architectural powder coating is today and an opportunity for members of the Association to hear from specifiers and their needs, especially on issues of safety and sustainability. An impressive line-up of speakers has now been confirmed placing the event as a ‘must attend’ for any specifier of architectural powder coatings. Following the awarding of a QUALICOAT licence to Bradleys Metal Finishers, applications for new licences continue to be received by the secretariat. One Midlands based powder coater has recently undergone their second pre-grant inspection of their plant and processes and is close to being awarded their licence confirming their adherence to the latest QUALICOAT specification. With this licence granted, there will be twenty licensed applicators across the British Isles who offer architectural powder coating meeting the QUALICOAT standard. A further four coaters across are in the process of working towards the standard and will be undergoing inspections by the independent tests house IFO based in the Netherlands. It was raised that some specifiers still request coatings to meet a fire rating of A1 where architectural powder coatings fall into the A2, s1-d0 classification. It was agreed that this is an educational issue as significant tests have been undertaken that prove the safety of a A2, s1-d0 classification. This issue will be discussed in detail at the forthcoming ‘Future Proofing Facades’ conference in <strong>June</strong>. On environmental issues, the ‘National Resource Wales’ are considering tightening tolerances on industrial discharge to surface water, but the UK agencies feel that the tolerances being discussed will damage general industry at this time. The secretariat will keep members informed of any pending changes. Training of Laboratory Technicians in the most up to date production recording and testing requirements is a prerequisite of holding a QUALICOAT licence. A training day for for <strong>2022</strong> has been set for the 8th November, venue yet to be confirmed. Training will be undertaken by QUALICOAT UK & Ireland’s nominated independent test house IFO; all Laboratory Technician’s must attend a standards update course at lease every two years. The global QUALICOAT standard is incrementally revised in realtime with regular update sheets and is revised to include all updates each year end. The standard and any update sheets are freely available for download at www.qualicoat.net. For details on the availability of various colours and finishes contact any QUALICOAT UK & Ireland member for more information. For updated information about the use and specification of QUALICOAT in the UK and Ireland, please visit the UK & Ireland Association website at www.qualicoatuki.org. <strong>Finishing</strong> – <strong>May</strong>/<strong>June</strong> <strong>2022</strong>
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