安 美 特
[http://www.atotech.com]

On January 21st 2009, Atotech inaugurated its new Far East TechCenter, Taiwan located at the Kaohsiung Environmental Science and Technology Park. As its European counterpart in Trebur, the Kaohsiung TechCenter is specialized in corrosion protection with a strong focus on fastener applications. The opening event started in the morning with the official inauguration under the participation of the Vice President of the Republic of China (Taiwan), the Mayor of Kaohsiung County and 250 guests from the local and Taiwanese plating and fastener industry as well as representatives from the steel industry. A detailed tour of the facilities was followed by a technical seminar on new trends and technologies within the automotive industry, electrolytic corrosion protection and zinc flake coatings for fastener applications and a contribution on the special subject of torque tension requirements. With this new TechCenter Atotech once more emphasizes its position as the sole supplier worldwide for both plating and coating technologies.

"Taiwan and especially the Kaohsiung region is known to show the highest density in fastener manufacturers worldwide. This is why we have chosen Kaohsiung county as the location for our new Corrosion Protection TechCenter for Fastener to be close to our customers and to best serve plating and coating companies in the region and throughout Taiwan and the Far East with our leading green technological solutions." notes Reinhard Schneider, President of Atotech.

The new TechCenter is located within the building complex of the Kaohsiung Environmental Science and Technology Park. It is equipped with a fully automatic plating line for zinc, zinc alloys, phosphate pretreatment and Cr(VI)-free post-treatment processes including auxiliary equipment for environmental sound production. An advanced wastewater system treats the effluents from the plating line and serves at the same time for customer demonstrations. A zinc flake spray booth for manual rack applications and an automatic zinc flake dip-spin centrifuge (ZF-16) with a capacity of approx. 1600 kg/h illustrate the two ways of coating applications. Analytic and materials science laboratories are especially equipped for corrosion investigations, thickness testing and torque tension measurement.

Atotech will operate 14 GMF TechCenters by the end of 2009 around the world. They serve as training grounds for Atotech employees, customers as well as OEMs, offering sample plating for new finishes, providing qualification runs for new processes and technologies including equipment novelties. New TechCenters will be opened in 2009 in Italy, the Czech Republic and India.

As part of its company philosophy, Atotech is committed to provide its customers with leading green technology and the best local service. By investing 11% of its sales into R&D, a strong focus is placed on the development of high quality and environmentally responsible finishes that fulfill the requirements of the automotive industry and its suppliers today and in the future.