ICT | EDITOR’S LETTER
A
long time has passed since industrial part cleaning was considered the “Cinderella” of production processes, more of a hassle than a real added value in terms of the service life and operational reliability of components.
Regardless of whether solvent-based or water and detergent-based cleaning technologies are implemented, what all the systems, lines, and machines we have witnessed in action over the last two years have in common is their high level of automation (especially in the loading and unloading phases) and their resulting seamless integration into production lines. Nowadays, in many applications, cleaning plants have come to become actual work centres, meeting stringent design requirements and requiring no human supervision. Moreover, several Industry 4.0-oriented investments have been made in the cleaning field, where, similarly to other manufacturing sectors, these have been driven not only
Francesco Stucchi Editor
by production needs but also by government funding for plant digitalisation. The industrial cleaning sector is thus becoming increasingly technological and the debate on low environmental impact chemicals has now been superseded by far more complex technical issues. ICT – Industrial Cleaning Technologies has remained the last magazine to speak exclusively, organically, and purposefully about workpiece cleaning and washing applications. In this issue which, as is also the case in November, is an insert of the ipcm® magazine, we deal with some very interesting topics, particularly related to the automotive world. A cleaning process with robotic loading and unloading phases that replaces sandblasting in the cleaning of welding joints for electric vehicle subframes; a rotarytable cleaning machine integrated in an automatic car components production line; the brand new electronic grade coating (tropicalisation) process developed for car electronic devices and applied by a system traditionally devoted to cleaning. These are just some of the insights that, over the next few pages, will give you an idea of what industrial cleaning has really become.
international PAINT&COATING magazine - MAY/JUNE 2021 - N. 69
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