BASF Coatings and TMD Friction agree on suppliership and joint research projects

Citation

(2005), "BASF Coatings and TMD Friction agree on suppliership and joint research projects", Anti-Corrosion Methods and Materials, Vol. 52 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/acmm.2005.12852fab.018

BASF Coatings and TMD Friction agree on suppliership and joint research projects

BASF Coatings and TMD Friction agree on suppliership and joint research projects

BASF Coatings is now the supplier of powder paints for coating brake friction at a total of ten TMD Friction Holding sites in Germany, France, the UK, Italy, and China. In addition, the two companies, which both operate globally, agreed to additional research and development projects for boosting efficiency in the coating process. One way to do this may be to use UV- curable paints, in particular in coating truck disk brake pads. This has just been announced by the two companies. TMD Friction has an annual production of approximately 220 million brake friction parts for passenger cars, trucks, buses, motorcycles, racing, and industrial applications. BASF Coatings is one of the largest coatings producers worldwide.

For Dietmar Dahlem, Group Sourcing Manager, and Dieter Wappler, Group Operations Engineering at TMD Friction, the agreement means that the cooperation started in 1994 will be further intensified: “By signing this contract, we have agreed upon a technological commitment to powder coatings, and we will be working together with BASF Coatings to find potential measures for increasing the efficiency of the coating process even more.” Carsten Vietze, Account Manager at BASF Coatings, explains: “Our objective is to continue to grow along with the customer.” Vietze added that the partnership with TMD Friction was another sign that BASF Coatings is more than “just” a coatings supplier. “Supplying materials is just one of the things we offer. Developing innovations and measures for increasing efficiency are additional building blocks in our strategy to make our customer even more successful.”

The production of brake pads requires absolute precision work and poses high demands on the producer and its suppliers. For instance, the coatings need to be absolutely resistant to brake oil, they have to protect the metal from corrosion, and further on in the production chain of the brake pad, they need to withstand heating and cooling, as well as surface tension.

Vietze adds: “The powder coating for TMD Friction is produced to meet the individual needs of the customer.” For TMD Friction powder coatings are now the only way to go. Up until 1994, TMD Friction had still worked with two-component liquid coatings. Back then, there were a lot of disadvantages: only 25 per cent of the paint applied actually landed on the surface to be finished. Twenty-five per cent were solvents and 50 per cent overspray, meaning paint that was simply squandered. On top of that, the paint sludge had to be disposed of, which meant that in addition to the expenses for disposal, there was always a production stop during the cleaning process. Powder coatings do not have these negative side effects.

Another research project involves potentially reducing the baking temperature of the powder coating. “This will also mean concrete savings for us,” says Dahlem, who is looking forward to successful research.