50 years of coil coating – a history of successful partnerships

"We regard our customers as our partners, and together we work on promising projects." This way of thinking was certainly the inspiration 50 years ago when the former Salzgitter Group decided to build a coil-coating line that was successfully put into operation in 1968.

The first coils were coated in Salzgitter in 1968. Material moved through the plant at a maximum speed of 38 m/min, enabling Salzgitter to not only supply customers in the construction industry, but also to apply PVC film to coils. Sales were strong to the furniture and shipbuilding industries, where the product was used as imitation wood. Since the technology was still quite new in Germany, it was not possible to operate the plant exclusively with steel products. At the time, Salzgitter also coated aluminum for what was then Alcan in Göttingen. Despite the cold war and East-West conflict, Salzgitter’s own trading company in Hamburg supplied a shipyard in Rostock with the imitation wood for use in shipbuilding.

With the start-up of its own galvanizing line, the supply of input material became easier and over the years the steel sector grew at the expense of the aluminum business, which was eventually discontinued.

Beginning in 1997, orders began to increasingly roll in from the automotive industry, with the magic word at the time being "corrosion protection primer". This promising product (trade names such as "BonaZinc" are still bandied about among experts) enabled cavity sealing to be dispensed with without impairing weldability.

Gradually, special products began to win over customer groups such as lighting manufacturers and cold storage builders. The coatings industry also supported the coil-coating industry with a raft of new, innovative products, e.g. a paint which employed electrostatic discharge to ensure that walls do not attract dust, resulting in an application for clean rooms.

The sound demand and dynamic developments finally led to the decision to build a second coil-coating line, which went live in January 2000. Full production capacity of 15,000 t/month was reached after only five months. The maximum speed of the plant was 120 m/min, a shuttle coater shortened coat change times, and chemical pretreatment was provided by a Chemcoater. These features made coil-coating line 2 clearly superior to the line 1 unit, and consequently, line 1 discontinued operation in 2003.
Plant 2 also launched a further development thrust. Salzgitter was now additionally in a position to supply the home appliance industry with FOLASTAL^® (the product’s long-time brand name). Environmental protection was becoming ever more relevant, and since 2007 Salzgitter Flachstahl has been manufacturing entirely chromium-free. Corresponding requirements within the automotive and home appliance industry were implemented in a timely manner.

The last coil with corrosion protection primer was produced in February 2017. Today, Salzgitter Flachstahl produces high-quality coatings for the construction industry, household appliances, drum lids, service centers and numerous other customers which at times impose stringent requirements for products. In view of upgrades in capabilities to a strip cross-section of 3750 mm² and modern coating systems (colaminate, etc.), Salzgitter is decidedly optimistic with regard to future activities in this area. Together with our customers, we are looking forward to the next 50 years full of exciting developments and mutual success stories.