Durable technical support

In combination with local plant support and sales, our expert TS&S team addresses about 400 requests per year.

Pieter Vanduynslager

Durable technical support

The main mission of the ‘Technical Support and Services’ (or TS&S) team is to help our customers when unexpected problems occur and to deliver long-lasting solutions to production plants as well as their customers. For more than a decade, customers have been relying on our experience and dedication to assist them in tackling difficult issues – be they corrosion matters, stamping problems, welding troubles, or environmental issues.

Recently, we received a request to prove that our organic coatings – used for roofs and other applications – fulfil the most severe environmental standards when it comes to leaching of potentially harmful elements (such as Hg, Cd, Cr, As, …) in rainwater. As this request was of importance to multiple customers, a standardized leaching test in an electrochemical cell was carried out for a whole range of coatings, after which the run-off water was analysed using ICP-MS. With these test results in hand, metal roof producers can convince their customers of the environmental-friendliness of the materials they use. The same trend is seen in the enamelling business, which is dealing with ever stricter rules concerning health and safety. For this reason, the composition of the enamel powder has changed over the years, and heavy metals have been banned. These changes impact the enamel properties, such as adhesion, resulting in an increasing number of requests about this issue. After a first screening of the problem, we can (among other things) assist in checking and optimising surface treatments applied by the customer. By creating a more reactive surface, issues due to reduced enamel adhesion can be avoided. Furthermore, production plants frequently ask us to assist in production-related problems and product verification. Recently, we evaluated e.g. the corrosion resistance of a new type of chromate-free passivation on zinc-coated products from a French production plant.