Interpon’s partnership with CNH
AkzoNobel partners CNH in delivering 50 years of manufacturing excellence
In the world of agricultural and construction equipment (ACE), the family of brands belonging to CNH are well-known and much respected for their quality and performance.
What is perhaps less well known is that CNH was among the very first to use powder coatings to protect its products, and for more than 50 years has been partnering with AkzoNobel. And it is a partnership that endures.
CNH has been manufacturing from its facility Zedelgem in Belgium since 1906 and now produces combine harvesters, balers, and forage harvesters. It was in 1972 that it started working with AkzoNobel, using industrial coatings. It needed a solution that had a good weatherability performance to protect its machine parts and finish.
Twenty-five years ago, when CNH decided to switch entirely to powder, AkzoNobel was again able to use its global expertise to assist with adapting the existing liquid line to accommodate powder, while using the same floor space and oven. CNH also changed its manufacturing process so that assembly and painting were performed concurrently:
“We chose AkzoNobel because it is a global leader and therefore has the global capability to develop the powder coatings we needed to adapt to new market demands, and the demands of our own production facility,” says Frank Verhoye, who heads up Paint Central Manufacturing at CNH at its Zedelgem plant.
50 years of progress with CNH
“AkzoNobel was very flexible in helping us,” Frank says. “The oven is very short, but AkzoNobel helped us in creating a large baking window so that it could over-cure some parts and under-cure others, while still delivering the overall quality required.”
The new demands to which Frank refers includes changes in both regulatory and environmental requirements, moving to new generation polyester products that were free from TGIC, lead and chromates to meet health and safety obligations. “At every stage, AkzoNobel was able to meet our technical requirements and answer any questions we had,” Frank continues.
It also meant creating colors that accurately and precisely matched those of its brands and powder coatings that could be used on the line without any quality issues: “We are continuously looking to our suppliers to deliver more efficient painting systems that give us failsafe production with fewer environmental issues,” Frank adds.
A key reason for choosing Interpon ACE powder coatings, beyond color, is their superdurability. CNH brands’ products are used mostly in the summer, so having a powder coating that has a high resistance to UV light was a major advantage. They similarly have good resistance to corrosion caused by high humidity or liquid spills, such as diesel and oil.
Over the last 10 years, CNH has also been an early adopter of Interpon’s low cure (Interpon ACE 2010 Low-E) powder coatings which have helped the company reduce its energy consumption and therefore its carbon emissions.
Martina Lösgen, Global Segment and Key Account Manager ACE and CV within AkzoNobel Powder Coatings says she is very proud of the long-term partnership with CNH: “We are very much looking forward to working with CNH on developing new product solutions that will help it to further reduce its carbon footprint and increase the long-life of the machinery and the future of its brands.”
CNH is a world-class company with over 180 years of history, specialized in equipment, technology, and services for the agriculture sector and with a distinct construction business. In the Agricultural sector, CNH is the world’s second-largest manufacturer of farm equipment, the global leader in combine harvesters, and a pioneer in alternative power solutions.
