He is Managing Partner at P&H Oberflächentechnik and has more than 20 years of experience in the coating industry.
Interview: Heinz Käsinger
"Galvanotechnik": How was the past year, in the middle of the first lockdown?
Dirk Hüwelhans: We started setting up the system in May 2020. The first lockdown didn't affect us too much during this phase. Fortunately, we had reliable trades on site to help with the construction. This allowed us to almost keep to our project schedule. The search for suitable personnel proved to be difficult. The contact restrictions did not make it any easier.
What is missing, however, is making and refreshing personal contacts at trade fairs and conferences. All in all, 2020 was certainly not as bad for us as start-ups as it was for existing companies. Of course, we also felt the effects of rising raw material costs - aluminum alone has doubled.
But we are optimistic.
Aluminum is part of the lightweight construction trend. Does that help in these difficult times?
Aluminum always works. Of course, the mechanical engineering sector, one of our main customers, has been hit very hard by the pandemic, which we are also feeling.
"Aluminum always works!"
For this reason, we have positioned ourselves very broadly with our service portfolio. We not only offer standard anodizing coatings such as direct current sulphuric acid coatings, hard anodizing and phosphoric acid coatings, but also special functional coating systems developed in-house for components subjected to alternating bending loads or for medical technology. In addition, we offer powder coating on steel and aluminum parts, xy- lane-based anti-friction coatings, bonding primer applications for the aviation industry and much more. The size and experience of our company allows us to react very flexibly to customer requirements. In today's world, this is an absolute must in order to be present on the market and also what we strive for in our company philosophy. Coating aluminum is one thing, but there is so much more to it. Aluminum is such a versatile material and, in combination with a suitable coating, you can significantly extend the life cycle.
What advice would you give to start-ups that want to launch right now?
The first lockdown has already left its mark and the second lockdown is not over yet. No long-term planning is possible, which makes it extremely difficult to start a company. Unless you start a business in an industry that is in high demand at the moment. But that is always a snapshot in time. You should definitely have staying power.
You also offer your services to private individuals. What do they have coated?
It is important to us to make our range of services accessible to everyone. That was important to us right from the start. This ranges from bicycle frames and motorcycle parts to art objects. It's amazing and very interesting to see what objects come in for coating. Our job is to support our customers in realizing their ideas and wishes.
What plans do you have for your company?
We are optimistic about the future and will add a few new processes to surface technology. We plan to optimize and expand our range of services. We already have some innovative ideas that we would like to implement. Of course, we would also like to implement customer and development projects. We both have a broad knowledge and a great deal of practical experience in the field of surface technology, plant engineering and materials analysis. As you can see, it's worth getting to know us.
