European Coatings SHOW 2013: top themes in the coatings world

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The sector made intensive use of the four days of the European Coatings SHOW and CONGRESS and presented its variety and power of innovation to the full. So the trade fair, which takes place every two years in the Exhibition Centre Nuremberg, again proved its status as leading international show for the production of high-quality coatings, paints, sealants, construction chemicals and adhesives. The next European Coatings SHOW takes place in the Exhibition Centre Nuremberg from 21–23 April 2015. The European Coatings Congress traditionally starts a day earlier.

From 19–21 March 2013, 962 exhibitors from 43 countries showed their new products to altogether 25, 844 trade visitors on a record net display area of over 34, 600 m²: these ranged from new raw materials for coatings, printing inks and adhesives to laboratory and production equipment and the latest technologies for test and measurement. The show focused on all global trends in the sector, such as solutions for bio-based coatings or waterborne and UV-cured coatings. Other trends include functionalized nanoparticles, which, for example, act as thermal manager or photocatalyst and help to save energy or clean the air. The products on the stands and the presentations clearly showed that sustainability is still the driving force in coatings technology. For example, in the opening keynote at the European Coatings CONGRESS on Monday, 18 March 2013, Dr. Aditya Ranade of Lux Research presented an innovative assessment approach that can be used to distinguish greenwashing from solutions with genuine sustainability value.

The second plenary speaker, Dr. Klemens Bartmann of Axalta Coatings Systems, also confirmed that sustainability is the most important innovation driver in the coatings industry, but advocated that the term should not only cover environmental compatibility. On the contrary, it should be defined on a broader basis and include properties like "high quality" and "smart functions" like easy-to-clean or scratchproof.

More than 60 per cent international exhibitors and visitors
A look at the origin of exhibitors and visitors shows that the whole paint and coatings world gathers at the European Coatings SHOW. 64 per cent of the exhibitors and 63 per cent of the visitors come to Nürnberg from abroad. After Germany, the leading exhibiting nations this year were China, the Netherlands, Italy and Great Britain. The countries with the most visitors were Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Turkey. The exhibitors praised the large international involvement at the event. "We rate the European Coatings SHOW as the highest quality show in this segment, " says Birgit Lorth, Business Communication Manager at DOW. "The quality of the visitors is super, and it is also clearly noticeable that the show is becoming more and more international, " Lorth adds. Bettina Betzinger-Rabe, responsible for Technical Documentation at Erichsen, also especially noticed that the international share of exhibitors has increased this year. Particularly China and Japan are advancing strongly. BASF also attaches high priority to the Show. "As the biggest exhibition in this sector, it is simply the place to meet par excellence, " says Manuela König, Commercial Marketing Manager at the chemicals concern.

The largest groups of visitors this year were the formulators (42 per cent), followed by raw material suppliers (20 per cent) and industrial applicators (10 per cent). Almost 70 per cent of the visitors say they decisively or partly influence purchasing decisions in their companies.

The sector's high degree of satisfaction with the show is also indicated by the share of those intending to come again: some 60 per cent of the visitors and 95 per cent of the exhibitors think they will be there again in 2015.

Europe's biggest coatings congress a success
The partly parallel European Coatings CONGRESS 2013 – for the first time the show and congress overlapped by only one day – offered the opportunity to update on the latest developments from science and industry. Altogether 651 participants from 38 countries attended the 144 presentations arranged in 24 series of lectures. 78 per cent of the visitors at the congress, which is held in English, came to Nürnberg from abroad. After Germany, the top visiting countries included the USA, Belgium, the Netherlands, France and Great Britain.

European Coatings Award 2013
This year the coveted European Coatings Award, which is presented every two years at the European Coatings CONGRESS, went to Dr. Grégory Delmas of Arkema for his congress paper entitled "A new way to ensure metal protection with waterborne dispersions". Delmas and his team have developed a waterborne binder that requires no further addition of a pigment for corrosion protection and can be used as a "single coat direct-to-metal". Whereas two or more coats of corrosion protection coatings had to be applied previously, a single coat is now sufficient. This not only saves costs, but also offers a corrosion protection solution that the paint and coatings industry has been awaiting for years, according to the jury.

Highly satisfied participants at the "Young Innovatives" premiere
For the first time at the European Coatings SHOW in 2013, six companies presented their products in a pavilion for young innovative companies sponsored by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology. The firms were highly satisfied with their presence and said they had achieved their targets for the exhibition. All the participants in the pavilion – including a winner of the "Start-Up Champions" competition organized by the German state of Saxony and a winner of a special prize in the Bavarian Chemical Cluster's Innovation Award 2012 – showed just what innovation potential the sector possesses: The products offered ranged from innovative coating technologies with silver nano products, "intelligent fluids" and spectral photometers based on LED technology to special drying and curing processes for coatings using UV LED technology.

Boosting the "power of three"
In the course of the trade show the organizers of the European Coatings SHOW and PAINTINDIA also signed supplementary agreements for their cooperation. This action by Vincentz Network, NürnbergMesse and Colour Publications is to expand their partnership and strengthen the global alliance of leading coatings events. "We complement each other perfectly, " says a delighted Dilip Raghavan, Managing Director of Colour Publications, the organizer of PAINTINDIA. "Quality is very important for all of us. PAINTINDIA and the European Coatings SHOW have provided high-quality platforms for the industry's innovations for years and do not want to grow only in quantitative terms."

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