ZVO Surface Days 2022

The ZVO Surface Technology Days will take place in Leipzig for the second time after the premiere event in 2018: From September 14-16, 2022, the electroplating and surface technology experts will meet at the Congress Center Leipzig. A lecture program with a total of 89 presentations, accompanied by the industrial exhibition with over 60 exhibitors, will cover the industry topics.

The ZVO Annual Congress will kick off on the evening of September 14, 2022 in the Kongresshalle am Zoo (city center) with the official opening ceremony at 6 pm. After a welcome address by ZVO Chairman of the Board Walter Zeschky, Prof. Dr. Frank Mücklich from the Institute for Functional Materials at Saarland University will speak on "Circular materials - and why we are sending them into space". He will show how we can learn from nature when it comes to material cycles and transfer this to material coatings.

The actual lecture program will take place on 15 and 16 September in the Congress Center Leipzig at the exhibition grounds. In addition to the recurring topics such as process monitoring & product quality, wear protection, complementary technologies and new requirements for electroplating and surface technology or "Results from research - young colleagues report", this year's focus will be on the following topics:

Climate neutrality & energy and resource efficiency

This year, it will consist of 60 exhibitors A full-day lecture block with a total of twelve contributions will deal with the forward-looking topics of climate neutrality and energy and resource efficiency on September 15. This is because the demands in electroplating and surface technology have not only increased in terms of quality and technical requirements, but sustainability and the economical use of resources are also in focus - both from an environmental and economic perspective. The efficient use of energy and resources is more important than ever in view of the current sharp rise in energy and raw material prices - especially for electroplating technology, where energy and material costs account for a large proportion of total costs. At the same time, there is potential for reducing the use of energy and resources. For companies affected by the price increases, the efficient use of energy and resources can become a key competence that offers an economic and ecological competitive advantage over the competition.

Electroplating technology for sustainable energy generation and storage

Another block of lectures on the morning of September 15 will focus on energy generation and, above all, energy storage. This is because a sustainable energy supply requires storage systems and converters that are adapted to the special conditions of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power.

Challenges arise from the strongly fluctuating power supply of these energy sources. Promising candidates for electrochemical storage are batteries, for example based on lithium, although costs and material availability must be taken into account. When it comes to converters, great hopes are pinned on electrolysers and fuel cells that work with hydrogen as an energy source. Here, too, there are numerous unanswered questions regarding material availability and long-term stability.

Business forum: Management meets surface

The ZVO has taken up the wish of many medium-sized companies, especially electroplating companies, and is offering an all-day business forum on Thursday during the ZVO Surface Days 2022 under the motto "Management meets surface". Participants can expect an interesting mix of twelve presentations on the topics of management/company management, personnel management, company succession, early detection of insolvency, energy and digitalization.

Decision-making aids for complex systems

The morning of 16 September will focus on planning and decisions, what influences them and how risks can be minimized - in both private and professional life. The lecture block will cover a range of topics, from theoretical considerations of systems and their fluctuating, sometimes chaotic behavior, to the complex relationships in system planning and systemic modelling as a tool for more efficient analyses, to a review of the "Sustainable planning and decision-making" workshop held by the ZVO in collaboration with Ilmenau University of Technology.

Chromium(VI): What happens now?

Restrictions imposed by European chemicals policy, above all REACh, and the general pursuit of environmentally friendly technologies are bringing alternative, chromium(VI)-free processes into focus. A block of presentations at the ZVO Surface Treatment Days on the morning of September 16 will showcase various examples, above all trivalent chromium processes, as well as 3D printing and gravure printing processes that do not require the use of hexavalent chromium.

There will also be blocks of presentations on advances in plant and control technology - from Industry 4.0 and automation to artificial intelligence (AI) - as well as new developments in functional coatings and cathodic corrosion protection.