In mid-October, the Verband für die Oberflächenveredelung von Aluminium e. V. (VOA) elected the new board of the international quality organization at the general meeting of the Association for Quality Control in the Anodizing Industry (QUALANOD). Due to the current statutes, the previous President Dr. Metin Yilmaz from Turkey did not stand for re-election for this term of office. Philip Hilven from Belgium, previously Vice-President of QUALANOD, will take over the presidency for the next two years. His previous position as Deputy President will be filled by Peter Watts from the UK.
QUALANOD is the international quality mark for the anodization of aluminium. The Zurich-based general licensor of the same name has been awarding the quality mark since 1974 and the organization currently has over 200 licensees in almost 40 countries around the world. National associations - in Germany the VOA - act as general licensees and issue QUALANOD licenses and approvals in their respective countries. On October 19, 2021, they elected the new Executive Board at the digital General Assembly. On behalf of the VOA, Dr. Alexa A. Becker, Managing Director of the association, cast the vote.
Philip Hilven is well known in the surface finishing industry: The former Vice President at QUALANOD also serves as a board member at QUALUBEL, the Belgian general licensee of QUALANOD. He also works as Sales and Commercial Manager at Alural, which of course has a QUALANOD license. Peter Watts represents the British general licensor association QUALANOD UK and is Council for Aluminium in Building Managing Director at United Anodisers Ltd, also a QUALANOD licensee. Both elected individuals contribute their technical expertise and management experience to the quality organization.
The globally valid QULANOD quality mark stands for the assurance and development of clearly defined and globally recognized quality and performance criteria for anodized products. The license can be acquired in four different areas - architecture, industry, decorative anodizing and hard anodizing - if a company produces in accordance with the international specifications and accepts unannounced external inspections by independent, approved testing institutes in addition to the prescribed self-inspection. License holders are able to meet international customer requirements from numerous sectors with a uniformly defined quality standard.
Anyone interested in a license or approval can obtain further information at www.voa.de, where there is also an overview of German companies that hold a QUALANOD license.
