R&D and Quality Lab – a department dedicated to customer service

Our aim is to always stay one step ahead! In collaboration with our paint and aluminium suppliers, we are continuously on the lookout for new applications that meet market needs.

“Our lab is very well equipped. This enables us to carry out most of the testing and quality controls ourselves. This gives us a significant advantage both in developing new products and in conducting final quality controls on our products,” explains David Goutte, our Laboratory Manager.

“On our small coating line, we can produce very small batches. We also use this line to carry out industrial testing of new coatings. Very few coil coating manufacturers have this kind of installation, which also offers our paint and aluminium suppliers an advantage when it comes to developing new products,” says David.

In the lab, we apply paints to aluminium samples to simulate the coating line process. This allows us to develop and test coatings before they go on the line. The same department also produces colour samples for our customers. “In 2021, we made over 900 colour samples. When you bear in mind that it takes 30 to 90 minutes to produce a colour shade and make a colour sample, or even several hours in the case of metallic multi-layered coatings, this represents a considerable amount of work,” says Goutte.

With the help of our suppliers, we have developed a variety of new coatings.

These include MecoProtect® – our easy to clean active coating, Meco®Elox – which imitates an anodised finish combining brushed aluminium with an extremely durable transparent coating and, more recently, Meco®Touch – our new, highly durable, matt or ultra matt coating and a vital addition to our range. We are currently developing a new smooth PE coating with an extremely high level of UV resistance and corrosion resistance.

Our lab is the backbone of our company. It enables us to satisfy our customers’ specific requests and to always stay one step ahead on new developments.