Confirming  that the quality based nature of the company is underpinned, EQC were subject to BSi re-assessment to ISO 9001:2008 in November 2010. A full review of the processes and procedures of the company was undertaken and were given a clean bill of health. At the same period, EQC was also re-assessed for Investors in people and successfully retained its accreditation. The investors in people process assists greatly at EQC in recognising the value of its staff to the business and its wider stakeholders and ensures that important aspects of training, development and leadership are a core strength amongst the team.

Euro Quality Coatings Limited is delighted to receive the 2010 Wales Quality Award – Customer Service Prize. This award recognises the effort that everyone within the company makes to ensure that the demands of their customers are not only met but exceeded and is a tribute to everyone that works within the business.

The past year has been important in the development and growth of Euro Quality Coatings as one of the most respected trade metal finishing companies in the U.K. with the addition of a new electrophoretic coating (e-coat) plant to add to our existing services of powder coating and paint stripping.

The Customer Service Prize recognises our commitment to providing the highest quality service to all our customers.

If you would like more information regarding the Wales Quality Awards, please follow this link: http://www.walesqualitycentre.org.uk/awardsn.htm

A bold new investment in metal finishing is underway at Wales’ largest trade powder coating company Euro Quality Coatings Limited.

To compliment their existing powder coating production lines, a strategic decision has been made with the planned installation of an Electrophoretic paint (e-coat) plant.

This new division, which is to be located on the same Wentloog Corporate Park site in Cardiff as the existing powder coating and paint stripping plants, will allow EQC to offer an even greater breadth of finishing processes to those companies seeking high quality aesthetic finishes on a multitude of products.

This investment of approximately £450,000, assisted by the single investment fund through the Welsh Assembly Government, will be the only facility of its kind in South Wales available commercially. First production is planned for Mid November 2010.

The Electrophoretic painting (e-coat) process is widely used in the automotive industry for corrosion protection as it offers the ability to deposit a uniform coating over an entire component including those with bends, cavities or areas which would be hard to coat with a conventional powder coat or wet spray painting process.

This process is also known as Electrocoating, E Coating, Electrophoretic Deposition (EPD), KTL, Cathodic Dip Painting (CDP) and Electrodeposition.

As well as the automotive industry, the e-coat process has applications in many other sectors such as leisure goods, domestic appliances and architectural components.

The e-coat process can be used to produce a basic coating in its own right by giving excellent corrosion protection to components not requiring a more decorative finish. It can also be used in conjunction with a powder coated finish on components that need a higher degree of protection and a more robust and aesthetic finish.

Nomatterwhat colour you want, EQC stay green!

On the 28th July, EQC completed a 2 day assessment to the Green Dragon environmental standard. Green Dragon provides a staged approach to obtaining systems and procedures to a level equivalent to ISO14001 and is of particular satisfaction to the company especially as we are based on a site of special scientific interest. This is the third year of succesful accreditation to Level 5 of the standard, the highest level obtainable. This achievement underlies the company’s continuing commitment to improving the impact on both the local and global environment. One of the key elements of Green Dragon Level 5 is sustainability, and EQC work very hard with customers and suppliers to reduce it’s carbon footprint and has reduced it year on year for the last four years.

EQC has done this by making environmental improvements an integral part of its business strategy and has reduced its landfill waste by 50% during a period of increased turnover.

The reduction in waste has been achieved through a number of resource efficiency initiatives such as:

• Reusing component packaging from customers
• Returning plastic drums to chemical suppliers
• Recycling cardboard and paper.

The company also gives its cardboard reels and waste wood to local charities that provide arts and crafts materials to schools and people with learning difficulties.

In addition, EQC has reduced its carbon dioxide emissions by careful monitoring and use of gas, electricity and water, also taking steps to improve environmental awareness among staff and suppliers.

A lot of the measures taken to reduce waste and energy consumption are relatively easy to implement and are really just common sense. Taking such steps is not just good for the environment; it also helps the business to remain competitive by reducing costs.

Working in partnership with a major aluminium and fabric contractor, Euro Quality Coatings Limited, based on the Wentloog Corporate Park in Cardiff, have secured the powder coating of Aluminium sections to be installed at Ferrari World on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi.

Their customer, FA, have been commissioned to design, manufacture and supply 1,784 No facade wall fins, totalling approximately 45,000 m2 to create the look of engine cooling fins across all buildings in Ferrari World using hi-tech glass based fabric.

The contract with EQC involved the supply of high quality architectural grade polyester powder coating, in Akzo Nobel RAL9001 cream finish, to the rear tensioning part of each fin.

Opening in 2010, Ferrari World is set to be the world’s largest indoor theme park sitting under a roof designed in the style of a classic double curve body shell of a Ferrari GT car. The park itself promises to be a major attraction combining Italian flare within the heart of the middle
easts most dynamic city. There are over 20 rides and attractions including the worlds fastest rollercoaster and other motoring themed rides. For more information see www.ferrariworldabudhabi.com

Wimbledon Centre Court is to show off its new retractable roof system this summer in time for the start of the 2009 lawn tennis championships.

Designed to enable play throughout all adverse summer weather conditions, the roof has been engineered to open and close in under 10 minutes and allows a sufficient quantity of natural light to reach the grass through the translucent fabric.

Interpon D Approved Applicator Euro Quality Coatings used Interpon D1036
polyester powder coating to coat the aluminium flashings and fabrications around the retractable roof in a dark green matt colour to match the roof design.

 Along with the new roof, Wimbledon will now be offering Centre Court visitors a greater capacity of 15,000 with all new wider padded seats and new landscaping.

From April, Interpon have extended the guarantee period for its architectural grade powder coatings available through its approved applicator network.

Standard D1036 powder coatings will now be available with a 30 year guarantee and the enhanced durabily D2525 coatings will be available with a 40 year guarantee.

The system for giving a guarantee in marine and other hazadourous environments has also been greatly simplified.

 Click here to view a matrix showing the guarantees applicable to different environmental conditions

As an approved applicator of interpon architectural grade powders Euro Quality Coatings can provide these guarantees to our customers as part of the scheme. 

Please feel free to contact us if you need any further details.

EQC have recently secured the powder coating of 7,500 square metres of Aluminium flashings and architectural features for a new student accommodation building in Gillingham Kent.

Initially specified as a pre-coated system, the Architect involved had requested extended warranties but had failed to achieve the desired longevity with the pre-coat system supplier.

EQC, working in partnership with their customer and powder supplier (Akzo Nobel/Interpon) assessed the site and were able to offer an extended 30 year warranty on the project using Akzo Nobel D1036 RAL7011 Polyester Matt powder coat.

Processing of the project is being undertaken during January and February 2009.

This is our second Environmental Prize in the three years of entry to the Wales Quality Awards, following last year’s success with the
Manufacturing Award, and is a clear validation of the efforts and initiatives EQC has implemented to ensure that we carry out all aspects of our
business activities in an efficient and environmentally responsible manner.

This year was a particularly pleasing Award with the company being short listed for the overall prize for the second year in succession and where we were also considered by the judging panel to be in the top 6 entrants for 2007 and 2008. The award was presented in Cardiff’s City Hall on November 10th 2008 and was the culmination of a concerted effort with the company’s submission to the European Foundation of Quality Management (EFQM) excellence model. The model itself requires each entrant to detail in a 35 page report how it approaches Leadership, Strategy & Planning, People Management, Resources, Processes, Customer Results, People Results, Society Results and Key Performance Results.

This award follows closely behind our recent success in the South Wales Chambers of Commerce awards 2008 where we again took the Environmental prize. These awards are further evidence that EQC are the premier powder coating company in Wales.

As in previous years, we do not intend to rest on our laurels and will use the feedback given by the external assessment process to identify and implement further improvements to ensure that we continue towards our goal of becoming a world class business, through both our commitment to quality and to our environmental responsibilities.

By undertaking such practices we ensure that our stakeholders, internal and external, have a fully compliant and stable supply route which adds indirect value to their own businesses.

For more information about the Wales Quality Award click here

Our success is extremely gratifying, coming as it does in just our second year of entry to the awards and following on from last year’s award of the Environmental Prize. This second consecutive award demonstrates the efforts and initiatives made by the whole team at EQC, particularly with regard to our understanding and implementation of many of the improvements highlighted by last year’s feedback from the awards process and demonstrates our commitment to continuous improvement activities. The past year has been important in the development and growth of Euro Quality Coatings as one of the most respected trade powder coaters in the U.K. Major investments in production plant and job creation have been made in an effort to expand and enhance our culture of quality, flexibility and capacity to our customers..