Praise for pre-emptive chrome elimination
April 2017

Architectural aluminium systems manufacturer KAWNEER has put a six-figure investment into the elimination of chrome from its production pre-treatment ahead of the official ban due to come into force in September.

Kawneer had used chrome as a typical anti-corrosion coating prior to powder coating for 25 years but the company has reviewed this practice in light of a European Regulation on Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) ban.

The company invested in new and improved production processes including two new de-mineralisation units, stainless steel lined tanks, laboratory equipment, dedicated storage area for test panels and customer viewing platform.

These changes warranted an earlier than scheduled Interpon D approved applicator audit for 2017. The report (Indr17/007) by auditor Akzo Nobel said: “The new levels of process control installed with improved monitoring, analysis, corrective action and communication are commendable and propel Kawneer to the highest current performance level within the industry for pre-treatment and process control.”

Gareth Jones, Continuous Improvement Manager for Kawneer, said: “We are not the first company in our industry to change over to chrome-free but our aim was to have the best-in-country pre-treatment plant and systems and indeed, the auditors have ranked our pre-treatments and control systems best-in-class. Customers will have increased confidence with the new process controls in place.”

www.kawneer.co.uk