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AkzoNobel completes capacity expansion at Vietnam multi-site
When you’re a leading international manufacturer of lighting products and have a reputation to protect, you have to work with the best partners. And when your products are being used in environments that expose them to some of the most extreme weather conditions on the planet, even the best have to keep proving themselves.
It’s why 3Brothers chooses AkzoNobel and its Interpon Redox multi-layer powder coating systems, not only for the quality and reliability of the product performance, but also for the collaborative approach that the local AkzoNobel team takes in testing and trialing new innovations, so that nothing is ever left to chance.
3Brothers was founded more than 30 years ago, and in that time has grown to become a hugely successful business across Egypt and North Africa. It designs and manufactures more than 6,000 different products, from interior downlights to exterior streetlights, servicing both the Retail and Commercial segments. It can sell anything from an individual item from its showroom direct to the consumer, through to 50,000 pieces in a single order for a major building project.
In Egypt alone it has a 20-25 % market share with two major factories with die-cast and injection molding facilities in-house, as well as a high-quality laboratory in which all of AkzoNobel’s products are tested before being used.
Enhancing reputations
Eng.George Micheal, CEO of 3Brothers, says that while information on a product data sheet is useful, he has a very high reputation to protect: “We prefer to test the powder coatings in our own laboratories,” he explains. “AkzoNobel are very helpful in providing samples so we can assess how their products behave on different materials and in different conditions when subjected to corrosion.
“Egypt has many extremes of temperature, with high salinity in the air and frequent sandstorms and our products simply cannot afford to fail. The coatings we choose have to be durable, to protect against corrosion, and maintain the integrity and stability of the color even in harsh sunlight.”
Helping to give George and his team the reassurance they need is Interpon’s Redox Plus, a powder primer protective barrier that gives enhanced corrosion protection across a range of metal substrates, from mild steel to aluminum. It is designed to protect products in the most challenging environments for between seven and 15 years, while providing more than 25 years of durability in a C3 setting.
As well as having a wide curing range of good mechanical properties, Interpon’s Redox Plus also delivers a proven overcoating capacity and excellent edge coverage, something which is particularly useful for 3Brothers given that its products come in a large variety of unusual shapes and sizes.
Being a powder coating, Interpon’s Redox Plus is also free from Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), meaning it is less harmful to the environment: “Sustainability is very important to us as a business and clients are increasingly specifying the use of powder coatings,” George adds.
The collaboration between the two businesses extends beyond the powder in the box. While performance is vital, and costs need to remain competitive, the additional testing that George’s team performs are also shared with AkzoNobel’s technical teams, which supports further research and development into how Interpon Redox performs in extreme conditions.
As innovative thinkers, 3Brothers have also been quick to embrace the antimicrobial (AM) technology in Interpon powder coatings for lighting products used in hospital and healthcare environments. It is also now exploring the use of Interpon 610 Low-E powder coatings to further reduce energy consumption and improve productivity.
The vision for the business is to change the way communities see and experience lighting, using the very latest science and thinking, as well as maximizing the knowledge and skill of the wider management team which includes Eng. Erini Micheal (the Deputy CEO), Dr Poussy Aly (Research & Development Manager), and Eng Assad Saad Yakoub (Surface Chemistry Expert). It is this vision, along with their partnership with other visionaries like AkzoNobel Powder Coatings, that will ensure 3Brothers continues to maintain the remarkable reputation for quality and reliability it has already achieved.
“We are excited about our collaboration with AkzoNobel as experts in making paints and bringing surface to life,” George concludes, “and look forward to working with them in assuring our long-term manufacturing success.”
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