The Industrial Coatings business unit chose Munich as the venue for an impressive presentation of its competence in coil and foil coatings. The city symbolizes big league performance in a number of areas. Not only is the Bavarian capital the home of the Bayern Munich soccer club, a successful participant in the European "Champions League," but champions from the European construction industry also get together there every two years at the BAU international building exhibition. And the Industrial Coatings team outdid themselves in Munich, racking up successes in two areas at once. For instance, at the BAU booth it shared with BASF's Construction Network Team, the Industrial Coatings unit presented innovative paints and coatings. In addition, the team held a symposium entitled "Building with steel, aluminum and coil coatings," an event attended not just by the European big league of the coil coatings industry, but even by a company representative who had flown in from Dubai for the happening. And what could be more fitting as a location for this event than the Allianz Arena in Munich, the home of the German record-holding Bayern Munich soccer club, a venue for the 2006 soccer World Cup and the site of exciting, top-class soccer matches. The stadium, which can hold 67,000 spectators, was opened in 2005, and is considered to be one of the meccas of the soccer world.
The first point scored by the BASF Coatings' Industrial Coatings team was its presentation at the BASF booth at the BAU exhibition. Judging by the preliminary press conferences in November 2008 and the subsequent response of the media, it was already clear that the developments in the coil and foil sector had captured the attention of the public. So the huge interest in the display items coated with chromate-free primer, for which BASF Coatings is the world leader, was no surprise. Visitors were equally interested in the items with brilliant color effects for coil coatings and in floors with finish foil, a paper coated with clearcoats (foil coatings).
These floors have a noticeable advantage over laminate, since their structure gives them a "warm touch."
In addition, producing floors with finish foil consumes less energy and material than laminate. Anne Heimes-Scheller, Marketing Industrial Coatings, talked with lots of visitors and provided information on BASF Coatings' new developments. Heimes-Scheller was pleased with the results. "Our products were convincing and they are very promising. All in all, many of the visitors were surprised that the BASF Group offers such an extensive portfolio and so many solutions for the construction industry. The joint participation of BASF's Construction Network Team paid off for everyone involved."
BASF Coatings then scored its second point with the symposium held at the Allianz Arena. Dr. Wolfgang Kranig, director of Coil Coatings Europe and Africa, BASF Coatings, explained, "The construction market is the biggest market for coil coatings, with 70 percent of coil-coated steel and nearly 80 percent of coil-coated aluminum supplied to this market. With our new technologies and innovations, we are the market leader for coil coatings and want to continue to expand our good market position for coil coatings," Kranig added. After all, coated coils are a tried-and-tested, versatile material that meets individual demands for technology, economic efficiency and functionality and whose visual effects are becoming more and more popular. According to Kranig, steel and aluminum construction elements also offer a wide rnge of prospects for the future. There is no end in sight for new and different application options. "Our innovations pipeline for all aspects of coil coating is flowing strong," Kranig said.
Kranig added that in addition to the know-how of BASF's own researchers, the know-how of experts from research institutions, universities and customers' specialists, as well as integration in the BASF research network, add up to a definite advantage. "This network makes our customers and us strong and equips us all for the future," Kranig said. For this reason, he was especially happy that in the context of the symposium and the networking concept, Margit Pfundstein, Marketing Support for Branches and Industries, BASF SE, held a presentation entitled "Megatrends in Construction."
The proverbial view from outside was provided by Professor Henning Balck, CEO of Balck & Partner Facility Management, Heidelberg, Germany. The architect spoke on the topic "Life cycle optimization: Hands-on examples for improving usability, energy efficiency and ecological sustainability." His scientific studies demonstrate that compared to standard solutions, more expensive, long-term strategies and products in construction pay off more than seemingly inexpensive solutions that in the long run turn out to be more costly in terms of maintenance, repair and running costs. The timeliness of his topic is evidenced by the fact that 40 percent of the global need for energy is attributed to the construction industry.
All of the symposium participants agreed that while the current situation was serious, it offered opportunities at the same time. "BASF Coatings is not floundering in the storm. Quite the opposite. We are helping our customers in these times too, with innovative, eco-efficient products. We are well positioned in our segments," Kranig explained.
The first point scored by the BASF Coatings' Industrial Coatings team was its presentation at the BASF booth at the BAU exhibition. Judging by the preliminary press conferences in November 2008 and the subsequent response of the media, it was already clear that the developments in the coil and foil sector had captured the attention of the public. So the huge interest in the display items coated with chromate-free primer, for which BASF Coatings is the world leader, was no surprise. Visitors were equally interested in the items with brilliant color effects for coil coatings and in floors with finish foil, a paper coated with clearcoats (foil coatings).
These floors have a noticeable advantage over laminate, since their structure gives them a "warm touch."
In addition, producing floors with finish foil consumes less energy and material than laminate. Anne Heimes-Scheller, Marketing Industrial Coatings, talked with lots of visitors and provided information on BASF Coatings' new developments. Heimes-Scheller was pleased with the results. "Our products were convincing and they are very promising. All in all, many of the visitors were surprised that the BASF Group offers such an extensive portfolio and so many solutions for the construction industry. The joint participation of BASF's Construction Network Team paid off for everyone involved."
BASF Coatings then scored its second point with the symposium held at the Allianz Arena. Dr. Wolfgang Kranig, director of Coil Coatings Europe and Africa, BASF Coatings, explained, "The construction market is the biggest market for coil coatings, with 70 percent of coil-coated steel and nearly 80 percent of coil-coated aluminum supplied to this market. With our new technologies and innovations, we are the market leader for coil coatings and want to continue to expand our good market position for coil coatings," Kranig added. After all, coated coils are a tried-and-tested, versatile material that meets individual demands for technology, economic efficiency and functionality and whose visual effects are becoming more and more popular. According to Kranig, steel and aluminum construction elements also offer a wide rnge of prospects for the future. There is no end in sight for new and different application options. "Our innovations pipeline for all aspects of coil coating is flowing strong," Kranig said.
Kranig added that in addition to the know-how of BASF's own researchers, the know-how of experts from research institutions, universities and customers' specialists, as well as integration in the BASF research network, add up to a definite advantage. "This network makes our customers and us strong and equips us all for the future," Kranig said. For this reason, he was especially happy that in the context of the symposium and the networking concept, Margit Pfundstein, Marketing Support for Branches and Industries, BASF SE, held a presentation entitled "Megatrends in Construction."
The proverbial view from outside was provided by Professor Henning Balck, CEO of Balck & Partner Facility Management, Heidelberg, Germany. The architect spoke on the topic "Life cycle optimization: Hands-on examples for improving usability, energy efficiency and ecological sustainability." His scientific studies demonstrate that compared to standard solutions, more expensive, long-term strategies and products in construction pay off more than seemingly inexpensive solutions that in the long run turn out to be more costly in terms of maintenance, repair and running costs. The timeliness of his topic is evidenced by the fact that 40 percent of the global need for energy is attributed to the construction industry.
All of the symposium participants agreed that while the current situation was serious, it offered opportunities at the same time. "BASF Coatings is not floundering in the storm. Quite the opposite. We are helping our customers in these times too, with innovative, eco-efficient products. We are well positioned in our segments," Kranig explained.
