MetoKote Corporation has opened a €6.5 million coating center in the Friesenheimer Insel area of Mannheim, Germany, that began production in July 2010 and will supply electro-deposition coating (e-coat) on tractor components for Germany’s leading manufacturer of agricultural equipment, John Deere.

Located approximately nine kilometers (5.5 miles) from John Deere’s European headquarters and tractor assembly facility, MetoKote’s 11,500 square meter (near 124,000 square foot) site features an advanced e-coat operation, capable of coating multiple substrates including steel, and aluminum and iron castings.

The line’s all-spray, zinc phosphate pretreatment, and 61.6 cubic meter (17,000 gallon) e-coat tanks are able to process components up to 0.91M x 1.83M x 3.5M (3’ x 6’ x 11.5’) in size and transport them through the line by way of its “power-and-free,” non-synchronized, overhead conveyer system. The cathodic e-coating system has two-color capability. Maximum coating capacity for the line is 2.2 million square meters (23.7 million square feet) per year. At full capacity the facility can employ up to 50 team members.

MetoKote’s Mannheim coating operation meets all required environmental compliance regulations with its own integrated waste-water treatment center that can process six cubic meters (1,585 gallons) of water per shift. An inherently eco-friendly process, e-coating reclaims 98% of its material, returning it back to the operation. The facility also boasts a solar panel roof which will return 0.18 megawatts of electricity back to the Mannheim grid on an annual basis. The facility begins initial operations in support of John Deere; however, MetoKote will expand its coating services by supplying e-coat to other customers in the region. MetoKote has access to an additional 12,500 square meters (three acres) of land for future expansion.

[Read More...]