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ATOTECH —— the Largest Supplier for General Metal Finishing

By CFM , 2014-05-07 10:33:57

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Fasteners, nuts, bolts, screws, clamps, etc. – they hold things together and their finishes are critical to this function. Fasteners are coated to protect against corrosion or to achieve special properties. Industries such as automotive, construction or electronics have specific requirements for fasteners and it is ATOTECH's challenge to match all those specific needs.

Established in 1993, ATOTECH is one of the world's largest suppliers of metallization production solution for general metal finishing, whose electroplating business can trace back to 1901. It is headquartered in Berlin with branches spreading over 35 countries and regions across Asia, America, and Europe, owning 18 technology centers and 4,000 employees around the world. ATOTECH insists on THINK GLOBAL, ACT LOCAL and keeps developing a series of electroplating products and zinc flake products. The automotive industry is the largest fastener consumer. Automotive fasteners are a very sophisticated application for corrosion protection coatings and have to meet specifications. ATOTECH is the unique supplier who can supply both electroplating solutions and zinc fake products, enjoying a high popularity at home and abroad, with customers scattering in every region, whose major customers include Volkswagen, GM, BMW, Fiat, Peugeot Citroen, BYD, SAIC, FAW, GAC, DFM, GWM, Changan Auto, Chery etc.       

No matter the foreign-funded enterprises or the local companies in China, they all choose ATOTECH as their cooperative partners. Which products are their favorites? What are the characteristics of these products? What makes ATOTECH can always keep its leading role in industry? And how does ATOTECH think of the relationship among production, environmental protection, and development? With these questions, reporters of ChinaFastener.com interviewed Mr. Ricky LAM, Corrosion Resistance Department Manager of ATOTECH and Dr. Leo Liu, Zinc Flakes Technology Manager of ATOTECH to learn ATOTECH in details.

Electroplating and zinc flake products complement each other and strengthen competitiveness

ATOTECH’s electrogalvanizing applied in fastener industry enjoys a long history. It keeps introducing green environment-friendly electrogalvanizing techniques and provides a series of professional technology service from technique design, management process, to production verification. According to the introduction of Mr. Ricky LAM, ATOTECH’s electrogalvanizing is characterized with absolute green production, stable quality, high corrosion resistant (for example, the corrosion resistant of zinc-nickel alloy can be over 1,000 hrs), controllable friction coefficient property, and so on. In addition, in respond to the rigorous requirements on production process by automotive industry, ATOTECH designs a series of auxiliary equipments like TRICOTECT ion-exchange equipment used in trivalent passivation and the MEMBRANE ANODE of zinc-nickel alloy, which can monitor plating chemicals on full automation, decrease the generation of harmful substance, extend the life of plating chemicals, lower the emission and consumption volume, increase the stability of production, and reduce the rate of return.

Zinc flake products, also called Cr-free dacromat, is a real green revolution. According to the introduction of Dr. Leo Liu, ATOTECH started to provide zinc flake products for fastener industry in China since 2007, the main products were pre-sales training and after-sales technology service of coating and coating equipments; in 2009, ATOTECH introduced the most advanced fastener planetary dip coating equipments from Europe for the first time; in 2010, ATOTECH upgraded and updated the coating product, making it become much adaptable to the application in China. The zinc flake products are the perfect complement of electroplating on corrosion protection, whose major characteristics include:
● Without the problem of hydrogen embrittlement, requiring no additional heat treatment of hydrogen removal 
● Suitable for the bolts demanding high tension (PC 10.9 above)
● Even the thinnest coating can provide enough corrosion protection (8-12 μm)(> 1000 h NSS)   
● Zero Cr and non-toxic
● Using the sealants with lubricants can realize the accurate control on torque tension
● Good chemical stability 
● No wastewater treatment problems, belongs to clean production technology
● Low cost (technique is simple)

While compared with industry counterparts, ATOTECH is the unique supplier who can firstly conduct zinc-nickel alloy electroplating and then dip coating on fasteners. It can provide better and much stable corrosion resistance solution with the increasing requirement on corrosion resistance by automotive industry, especially in the periodic test on climate. Combining the advantages of these two techniques to achieve the best effect of salt spray also makes ATOTECH differ from the ordinary metal surface treatment suppliers.   

Strong R&D force and sales office in everywhere guarantee solutions in time   
Being the leading supplier for general metal finishing in the world, ATOTECH owns in house pilot line with production scale and R&D labs in Shanghai and Guangzhou, establishes two technical centers which conform to national laboratory certification ISO/IEC17025, provides physical & chemical analysis and electroplating knowledge training, and makes samples. It is the strong scientific research technical force that makes ATOTEC keep developing new products and obtains market. 

Chinese major automotive production bases spread in Changchun, Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Chongqin, Wuhan, Guangzhou etc. In order to better meet market demand, acquire convenient and fast logistics, and facilitate Chinese-foreign information and technologies communication, ATOTECH set up production base in Guangzhou in 1998, established branch offices in Shanghai, Nanjing, Tianjing, Wenzhou and Chongqing successively after that, and founded technical service points in Huizhou, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Wuhan, Qingdao, Changchun and Chengdu. All of the technical centers are equipped with electroplating lines of production capacity, making samples for customers, developing electroplating chemicals, and conducting various training. This kind of manufacture, sales and service varying from place to place makes ATOTECH be closer to users, being able to provide various electroplating solutions and zinc flake products for customers in time and win more market shares.             

Environment-friendly techniques, catering to future development demand  
It is a well-known truth that electroplating is a heavy pollution industry. The severe outbreak of hazy weather in China in 2013 further intensifies people’s environmental awareness. Environment –friendly industries and products will be much preferred and become the development mainstream in future. ATOTECH has been regarding safety operation, health and environment protection as the top priority in enterprise management. The goal of ATOTECH is not only meeting the present demand on technologies and chemicals, but also satisfying the future demand. That’s developing various kinds of new products which can enhance product life and improve energy consumption as well as new techniques which can reduce water consumption and energy consumption, controlling pollution emission, and restricting the final wastes volume.       

While talking about the relationship of environment protection and production, Mr. Ricky Lam expressed the electroplating solutions and zinc flake products provide by ATOTECH are environment-friendly techniques. Though electroplating is usually misunderstood as a pollution industry, ATOTECH learns the successful experience of Germany, America and Europe on environment protection and introduces the most advanced electroplating technologies into China, reaching the emission load and consumption requirements by country. In 2009, ATOTECH successfully completed the plan GREEN ELECTROPLATING TECHNOLOGY SYSTEM with China Environment Protection Industry Association, introducing the most advanced green techniques and equipments of galvanization and zinc-nickel alloy electroplating, which were used in four different electroplating plants, achieved the economic, technological and the most import environment protection index, and proved it was a breakthrough in comparison with traditional technique. ATOTECH’s relation with customers is not the simple buy and sell, but provides a whole set of electroplating solutions and zinc flake products for markets.                            

Future Development
In regard to the future, Dr. Leo Liu expresses that we are full of confidence on Chinese market. We will enhance the proportion of home-made coating in China, strengthen promotion and help to improve the corrosion resistance quality of self-own brand automobiles; that increasing efficiency, lowering cost, and reducing pollution will still be the development strategy of ATOTECH in future.

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