DEA Italian Worklab expands its coating expertise through a partnership with its pre-treatment chemical supplier

The surface coating of furniture, even in less conventional contexts such as car repair shops, must combine aesthetics and functionality to withstand particularly critical conditions of use. DEA, an integral part of the RO&Co. Group and a manufacturer of modular furniture for workshops, has tackled this challenge together with Chemtec, with which it has developed a pre-treatment cycle capable of guaranteeing high corrosion resistance and aesthetic quality, but also launched a training and skills consolidation programme to improve its coating process, which it insourced a few years ago.

Any mechanic or technician who works in a car repair shop is well aware that the quality of the furnishings is not just a matter of aesthetics. Benches, cabinets, and trolleys are work tools in their own right, which should withstand impacts, scratches, oils, solvents, and constant loads without compromising their functionality or value.

“For service managers working in the automotive sector, choosing the right materials for furnishing workshops, dealership premises, and official maintenance centres is a strategic decision that can profoundly affect the operational efficiency of these places,” states Rino Giliberti, Senior Manager - Product Engineering at DEA (Fano, Pesaro and Urbino, Italy), which since its foundation in 2011 has positioned itself at the high end of the market by manufacturing modular workshop furniture that combines Italian design with long-term durability. “Among the core elements, the workshop workbench is the key piece of equipment around which daily operations revolve, from routine to more critical tasks, from maintenance to precision work: each of its components must therefore meet the highest standards of robustness, reliability, and functionality.”

To guarantee this level of performance, DEA has chosen steel to combine mechanical strength and structural stability. “This material,” Giliberti adds, “lends itself to specific treatments, such as powder coating, which increase its resistance to corrosion and wear caused by liquids, oils, and industrial solvents. Thanks to these characteristics, powder-coated steel workbenches are a long-term investment capable of maintaining their performance degree even after years of intensive use.”

When DEA decided to insource coating in 2020, it did so with the same approach that guides all its projects: starting with total control of the selected materials and processes to achieve finishes that meet the requirements of all major automotive brands. This led it to collaborate with Chemtec Srl (Corbetta, Milan, Italy), a company specialising in chemical solutions for coating pre-treatment. Chemtec did not just supply the most suitable chemicals but also made its expertise available to develop a finishing cycle that combines aesthetics and durability, as guaranteed by advanced tests such as the ACET one, but also to train DEA’s operators who found themselves managing coating (one of the most complex processes in the entire production cycle) for the first time.

Focus on DEA Italian Worklab

Since 2011, DEA has been an integral part of the RO&Co. Group, a leading international organisation recognised for its solid market leadership position. “While preserving our DNA and identity, we can now benefit from powerful synergies that give us access to new resources, advanced technologies, and a global network. These advantages have enabled us to tackle the challenges of a constantly evolving market more effectively, accelerating our path of innovation and growth,” says Giliberti. “With this in mind, a few years ago, we decided to insource all our production phases, including coating, with the clear objective of gaining full control of our manufacturing cycle and ensuring the highest quality of our premium solutions, thus continuing to achieve the competitive advantage that has always characterised us within our sector.”

In 2022, the RO&Co. Group inaugurated a new production plant in Fano covering approximately 10,000 m² and equipped it with the latest technology and cutting-edge automation systems. These investments have optimised time, costs, and resources, thanks in part to real-time production monitoring via an MES system. As Giliberti explains, “The production cycle is now completely vertically integrated: from the receipt of pickled steel sheets, managed through an automatic warehouse, to machining, coating, and welding, and then assembly, testing, packaging, and installation at the customer’s workshop. Every stage is monitored and controlled down to the smallest detail. Our products are recognised precisely for this attention to detail: for example, in the case of smooth or semi-gloss finishes, we carry out aesthetic welding to ensure that the joints between the various components are invisible.”

Steel selected for high-performance coating cycles

The choice of sheet metal also reflects DEA’s focus on first-class production, as it uses lightly oiled, pickled, glossy sheets whose high quality has been confirmed by tests conducted by Chemtec’s team. In the coating department, the hanging system automatically recognises the most suitable handling method before taking the parts to the four-stage pre-treatment tunnel, which performs phosphodegreasing, two rinses (one with mains water and the other with demineralised water), and no-rinse nanotechnology passivation. The components are then subjected to drying (after blow-off for components with complex geometries) and finally enter the clean room for coating, a pressurised room housing two booths, of which one is manual and one automatic, as well as pre-finishing and post-finishing stations. After powder application, the parts reach the curing oven, with temperatures ranging from 170-190 °C, depending on the type of product. Finally, once cooled and unloaded manually, they undergo quality control, which includes various checks, such as the cross-hatch test to assess coating adhesion.

A training partnership with Chemtec

Insourcing coating operations means coming into contact with complex products and processes, which must be understood and managed in every aspect. “Our collaboration with Chemtec began with the supply of chemicals for pre-treatment,” explains Giliberti, “and soon turned into an exchange of know-how and, later on, a training opportunity for our operators. Its team was very helpful in guiding us through what was a completely new experience, as we had no experience in running this type of plant. Our only certainty was the result we wanted to achieve.”

“The first step,” indicates Beatrice Turri, Sales & Marketing Manager at Chemtec, “was to identify products that not only met the high quality standards required but were also easy to use for a team new to pre-treatment processes. We opted for two of them: PHOSCLEAN TTS3 and PRONORTEC MM02. The former is a one-component product that acts as both a phosphating agent and a degreaser, eliminating the need for additives or surfactants. It is managed by only measuring pH values; it is eco-friendly, meaning it is neither toxic nor harmful, and guarantees high corrosion resistance.

“For the nanotechnology passivation stage, we selected PRONORTEC MM02, applied by spraying without the need for rinsing. Unlike traditional chromium-based passivating agents, it is formulated with organic phosphorus compounds, making it non-toxic but guaranteeing anti-corrosion performance comparable to that of trivalent passivation. Over the last two years, this product has received considerable recognition, including QUALISTEELCOAT and QUALICOAT certifications, thus confirming Chemtec’s goal of providing the most complete, sustainable, and high-performance solutions possible.”

Advanced quality control with ACET testing

In addition to supplying pre-treatment products, Chemtec has signed a service contract with DEA that includes both on-site technical support and continued quality control, carried out through laboratory analysis and specific coating tests, including ACET and salt spray tests. “Chemtec is a small company that always puts customer needs first. Providing quality products is the starting point, but assistance and consultancy are critical: our laboratory is the actual heart of our company,” emphasises Beatrice Turri.

“We are constantly striving to develop new solutions to identify any critical issues in the coating process,” adds Emanuele Zepponi from Chemtec’s technical sales department. “With the ACET test, for example, we can verify the correctness of a process in just 24 hours and provide immediate feedback, whereas salt spray testing provides long-term data. The ACET method is based on applying a potential difference (electrochemical stress) to a coated sample, and then, after a relaxation interval, measuring the impedance of the system, i.e. the resistance of the coating to the passage of current; the stress-relaxation-measurement sequence is repeated six times or until the material is completely degraded. Thanks to a mathematical algorithm that we have developed in-house, the ACET test results can also be correlated with salt spray resistance. The same algorithm also enables us to identify any underlying causes of corrosion, such as coating porosity, moisture absorption, or insufficient electrical insulation of the organic film, and to compare multiple samples to determine which paint performs best. It is a fast, reliable, and conclusive tool that provides valuable support to customers such as DEA.”

DEA Italian Worklab’s roadmap to consolidate its coating expertise

“Thanks to Chemtec’s support, we can constantly improve our coating operations, which confirms we have chosen the right partner,” states Rino Giliberti. “For a product intended for indoors like ours, we have already achieved excellent results. PRONORTEC’s QUALISTEELCOAT certification guarantees that, should we wish to raise the bar even higher in terms of performance, for example with furniture for outdoor use, we will already be in place to start the new production. This is also proof of our determination: many other businesses would have hesitated to insource their coating processes, but we knew that there was no other way to achieve the goals we had set ourselves. And for a company starting from scratch, we have already acquired considerable expertise over the last four years.”

DEA is currently working on its internal organisation to consolidate its coating department’s know-how. “The initial period taught us what we did not know how to do; now, we are structuring ourselves by bringing specific skills on board to continuously strengthen our position. We are on a path of constant growth, listening carefully to the advice of our customers, who are our most valuable asset. Within our company, we have a research and development department dedicated to constantly perfecting our products in terms of design, execution, and performance. Improvement is in our DNA because the sector demands it".

“We began our manufacturing journey by serving the world of car repair shops, which remains our core business, and we have been honoured to collaborate with leading automotive brands, where our furniture is likened to car doors or bonnets. Therefore, we have to comply with extremely high aesthetic standards, adapting to the most stringent requirements. We offer a wide range of colours, from RAL tints to customised colours based on specific brand identities, with smooth and semi-gloss finishes, which are the most popular but also the most complex to produce. We are currently working on a new catalogue to diversify our market segments and expand our offering to the industrial sector. Further consolidating our coating skills, as we have been doing in the last few years together with Chemtec, will once again prove to be strategic to meet this new challenge.”

In the photo, from left to right: Rino Giliberti, Senior Manager - Product Engineering at DEA Italian Worklab, with Beatrice Turri and Emanuele Zepponi from Chemtec. Ⓒ ipcm