05.04.23
Beckers Group is building a new Sustainable Innovation Center in the UK to help to unlock the potential of more sustainable coil coating technologies such as ultraviolet/electron beam (UV/EB) curing.
The two-story 300 square meter innovation center will double the capacity of Beckers’ Long Term Development (LTD) R&D team that is working to develop future coil coating capabilities. The new SEK 20.5 million building next door to Beckers’ existing LTD facility in Liverpool will break ground in March 2023 and should be complete at the end of the year.
“As we don’t currently have space to accommodate all the equipment we need when developing some of the new coating technologies, the new innovation center will be essential in enhancing our global R&D capabilities,” says Gavin Bown, CTO. “The innovation center will enable us to develop new disruptive technologies that are both more sustainable and also have the potential to reduce costs for our customers.”
“The innovation center will give us the bandwidth to move into future technologies,” added James Smith, global R&D director, LTD. “It is designed with one eye firmly on the next generation of more sustainable coatings that are renewable and based on the concept of circularity.”
The aim is for the center to become a flagship for sustainable innovation to drive sustainable coil coating R&D. The innovation center is designed to develop both application technologies and coating formulations that are more sustainable.
“All of our new product development at Beckers must be net-sustainable, which means that all our R&D and innovation activity has a focus on sustainability,” said Bown. “Our new Sustainable Innovation Center will give us unique opportunities to investigate the intersections of different sustainable platforms – to potentially combine them with a view to unlocking the next generation of product technologies and coil coatings.”
The innovation center will also be a living showcase for the latest in more sustainable coating solutions. The walls and roof of the building will use a cladding system that utilizes a partially bio-resin coating developed by Beckers for improved material sustainability. The coating applied to the roof will also use Beckry®Therm technology to improve thermal control in the building to reduce the energy required for air conditioning and increase the service life of the cladding system.
The coatings used for the building will also be sourced and manufactured as sustainably as possible.
One more sustainable coil coating technology that the center will specialize in from the beginning is UV/EB curing. Beckers Group has adapted the use of UV/EB curing technology for the coil coating industry and developed the necessary paint formulations since 2005.
The two-story 300 square meter innovation center will double the capacity of Beckers’ Long Term Development (LTD) R&D team that is working to develop future coil coating capabilities. The new SEK 20.5 million building next door to Beckers’ existing LTD facility in Liverpool will break ground in March 2023 and should be complete at the end of the year.
“As we don’t currently have space to accommodate all the equipment we need when developing some of the new coating technologies, the new innovation center will be essential in enhancing our global R&D capabilities,” says Gavin Bown, CTO. “The innovation center will enable us to develop new disruptive technologies that are both more sustainable and also have the potential to reduce costs for our customers.”
“The innovation center will give us the bandwidth to move into future technologies,” added James Smith, global R&D director, LTD. “It is designed with one eye firmly on the next generation of more sustainable coatings that are renewable and based on the concept of circularity.”
The aim is for the center to become a flagship for sustainable innovation to drive sustainable coil coating R&D. The innovation center is designed to develop both application technologies and coating formulations that are more sustainable.
“All of our new product development at Beckers must be net-sustainable, which means that all our R&D and innovation activity has a focus on sustainability,” said Bown. “Our new Sustainable Innovation Center will give us unique opportunities to investigate the intersections of different sustainable platforms – to potentially combine them with a view to unlocking the next generation of product technologies and coil coatings.”
The innovation center will also be a living showcase for the latest in more sustainable coating solutions. The walls and roof of the building will use a cladding system that utilizes a partially bio-resin coating developed by Beckers for improved material sustainability. The coating applied to the roof will also use Beckry®Therm technology to improve thermal control in the building to reduce the energy required for air conditioning and increase the service life of the cladding system.
The coatings used for the building will also be sourced and manufactured as sustainably as possible.
One more sustainable coil coating technology that the center will specialize in from the beginning is UV/EB curing. Beckers Group has adapted the use of UV/EB curing technology for the coil coating industry and developed the necessary paint formulations since 2005.