AI speaks with Hartmut Herdin, MD of fairXperts about parts cleaning in the automotive industry

End-October saw the sixth edition of the parts2clean exhibition coming to an end in Stuttgart, Germany. This year’s parts2clean exhibition, held between the 28th and the 30th of October, had nearly 18 per cent more visitors than the previous year and more than 16 per cent more exhibitors than in 2007. The parts2clean exhibition is the leading international trade fair for cleaning within the production and manufacturing process. The seventh parts2clean will be held between 20th and 22nd of October, 2009 – again in Stuttgart. The organizers, fairXperts GmbH, expect the response to be even greater than this year. The 2009 parts2 clean will have an international convention titled ‘Requirements, Technologies and Markets Worldwide’.

In 2008, parts2clean had 244 exhibitors from 13 countries and presented the world’s most comprehensive offerings for cleaning within the production process. 4482 expert visitors from 37 countries gathered information at the event about numerous innovative solutions in order to provide the required levels of cleanliness in an economical and reliable fashion. Roughly 90% of the visitors were satisfied to very satisfied with contact and information opportunities offered at parts2clean.

Exhibitors as well were highly satisfied. “parts2clean is the world’s most important trade fair for us. We haven’t been able to establish this many high quality contacts at any other event”, says Claudia Denniger, marketing director at Dürr Ecoclean GmbH. Serge Tuerlings, European Technical Manager for Kyzen, classified his first experience as an exhibitor at the event as a complete success: “We’re an American company and we recently opened a plant in Belgium. Not only were we able to establish lots of top quality contacts with users in the metalworking and optics engineering sectors at parts2clean, we also hooked up with manufacturers of cleaning systems. And in addition to this, we found representatives for our products at the trade fair.”

On the expected increase in participation in parts2clean 2009, Hartmut Herdin, managing director of fairXperts said: “This is also signified by the fact that demand for solutions and information resulting from ever stricter cleanliness requirements will increase in practically all sectors all over the world. For this reason, I also see further growth potential for parts2clean in even stronger internationalization of both the exhibitors and the visitors – a factor we’re of course working on.”

The offerings include equipment, processes and process media along with treatment for degreasing, cleaning, deburring and component pre-treatment, as well as workpiece carriers, handling and process automation, cleanroom technology, job-shop cleaning, quality assurance, test methods and analysis procedures.

An international convention will take place for the first time as part of parts2clean 2009 under the banner of: Worldwide Requirements, Technologies and Markets. “There’s a great deal of international demand for information regarding the issue of industrial parts cleaning, and companies are looking for efficient solutions all over the world, especially in the automotive industry. For the first time ever, the convention will explore how cleaning tasks are handled in different countries and continents, which requirements have to be fulfilled in doing so, and which will need to be fulfilled in the future. And thus the convention will provide suppliers and users of cleaning equipment with valuable knowledge for penetrating new markets”, says Hartmut Herdin.

The parts2clean exhibition in 2009 will be held concurrently with the first international trade fair for corrosion protection, preservation and packaging called COROSAVE. “In production as well as in industrial parts cleaning, corrosion protection has become significantly more important in recent years. Because active surfaces are often exposed after degreasing, as well as during or after machining, which require temporary corrosion protection. Corrosion protection is also a decisive quality factor where warehousing and shipping are concerned. Appropriate preservation measures and packaging assure that components are made available for further processing with the required degree of cleanliness. As a result of these aspects, simultaneous promotion of COROSAVE and parts2clean will provide exhibitors with the opportunity of highly efficient trade fair participation, because a large portion of the visitors who attend parts2clean come from the metalworking industry sectors. On the other side, visitors will be able to gather information about parts cleaning, corrosion protection and preservation at one single fair,” say organizers fairXperts.

Another first for fairXperts GmbH holds is mechatroniX – the first exhibition to showcase only applied mechatronics. Mechatronics allows manufacturers to minimize time, costs and interface problems in the development process, improve products, develop new customer-oriented solutions, optimize added value which is vital for companies. The mechatroniX exhibition will be Europe’s only specialist trade fair for applied mechatronics. It will be held from the 16th to the 18th of June 2009 in the Augsburg trade fair centre in Germany. “Product development in many sectors is characterized by increasingly complex customer demands and continuous miniaturization of components. These trends lead to a constantly increasing requirement for mechatronic components. The integration of fields of technology that have up till now been largely isolated – mechanics, electronics and software – continues to create new challenges. The mechatroniX trade fair shows approaches for paradigms in product development that are novel, faster and more precise,” says fairXperts. Adds Herdin: “mechatroniX places consistent emphasis on the mechatronic approach to product development – both cross-sector and cross-technology. This is how we differ significantly from established, theme-oriented trade fairs in the propulsion or automation sector, where mechatronics represents only a fringe area.”

Automotive Industries spoke to Hartmut Herdin, MD of fairXperts.

AI: How important is parts2clean for the automotive Industry?

HH: There’s hardly another industry sector where cleanliness requirements are so strict as in the automotive industry. Even minimal residual contamination, for example in fuel injection nozzles or in the airbag system, may impair, or even cause complete failure of the respective function. Not infrequently, this results in expensive recalls which damage the company’s corporate image as well. On the other hand, parts cleaning results in costs which are often unknown to the effected companies despite immense price pressure in the automobile industry. A well thought out cleaning concept which is matched to actual requirements can contribute to cost reductions – and at the same time improve quality. Thanks to its exclusive focus on industrial cleaning, parts2clean offers targeted information and solutions at a single location, making it possible to take advantage of potential savings.

AI: With ISO-DIS 16232 (VDA 19) the automotive industry has established a quality assurance guideline for technical cleanliness. Tell us please how significant was this move?

It was very significant, because precisely defined residual contamination requirements have to be fulfilled for a continuously growing number of parts in the automotive industry. However, there are numerous testing and analysis procedures for evaluating the achieved degree of cleanliness, and the results vary depending upon which method is used and how cleanliness testing is executed. Thanks to the introduction of ISO-DIS 16232, volumes 1 through 10 (VDA 19), “Road vehicles – Cleanliness of components of fluid circuits”, comprehensive standards regarding procedures and methods for inspecting particulate cleanliness have been defined for the first time. The objective of these directives is to be able to evaluate and compare the technical cleanliness of a part by means of clear-cut, unambiguously described processes for particle extraction and analysis. The test procedures are intended to substantiate residual particulate contamination, above all in order to detect so-called killer particles. Information and equipment for the execution of cleanliness inspection in accordance with ISO-DIS 16232 is, of course, also part of the spectrum of offerings presented at parts2clean.

AI: Which goals are you pursuing by means of the convention for “Worldwide Requirements, Technologies and Markets”, which will take place for the first time in 2009 within the framework of parts2clean?

On the one hand, parts have to be manufactured today to a nearly identical quality standard all over the world due to advancing globalization. As a result, the requirements are also identical – for the parts cleaning step as well. For users of industrial cleaning technology, knowing how to fulfill the specified requirements efficiently is thus decisive for the company’s competitive edge. This issue will be covered by the convention. On the other hand, it’s important for suppliers of cleaning equipment to know which requirements are stipulated in other countries, in order to be able to successfully penetrate new markets.

AI: What prompted the decision to hold an exhibition on corrosion prevention concurrently to parts2clean 2009?

It’s not enough to fulfill the required degree of cleanliness within the cleaning process, the parts have to be delivered to the customer and assembled at his facility in this quality as well. Corresponding corrosion protection or preservation measures, as well as suitable packaging, are required to this end, to some extent during and usually after cleaning. It was thus entirely logical to incorporate a technical trade fair which deals with this topic into parts2clean. This makes it easy for visitors to find out how they can achieve the specified cleanliness requirements for the parts on the one hand, and, on the other hand, how they can deliver them to the customer.

AI: How do you think holding parts2clean and COROSAVE will help industries – especially the automotive industry?

parts2clean and COROSAVE provide solutions for a great variety of industry sectors, in particular the automotive industry, so that scrap, rework, malfunctioning and failure in the field can be prevented by means of efficient cleaning and effective corrosion protection. In the end, this leads to greater economy within the production process, and improved product quality.

AI: What kind of solutions will COROSAVE have for the automotive industry and commercial vehicle manufacturers?

COROSAVE will showcase a complete range of offerings for efficient corrosion protection. This includes media, processes and equipment for corrosion protection and preservation, corrosion protection packaging, services for protecting surfaces against corrosion, measuring, test and analysis systems, services from the fields of test technology such as salt spray testing and environmental tests, science and research, technical literature, training and vocational education, as well as trade associations.