ATLANTA - The IVM Group, manufacturers of Milesi wood coatings, will launch Block Chain Addition, what it is calling "a revolutionary technological paradigm" that it says marks the beginning of a new chapter in the history of the finishing sector.
The breakthrough it says is comparable only to the introduction of water-based coatings dating back to the 1980s: this is how IVM Group describes the advent of the new Block Chain Addition technology. A perfect example of the flexibility and potential for innovation of the Italian economic system, this represents an important milestone for IVM and, most of all, for the Italian industry, confirming its position of worldwide leadership in this sector.
The result of sizeable investments and two years of intense activity by the R&D division with over 200 researchers, operating in the Italian headquarters and in affiliates all over the world, BCA represents the cutting edge of experimentation of a corporation that sees innovation as an important strategic driver.
The focus on research is one of the keys to success of IVM, a “pocket-sized” multinational with a turnover of more than 300 million euros per year – of which 8 percent are reinvested in research – who from Parona, in the province of Pavia, has achieved its worldwide leadership position thanks to its ability to respond to and foresee the technical, functional, and aesthetic needs of an extremely broad and diversified market. The focus on the production processes and the client’s needsformthe basis of a sector such as that of wood coatings, which is part of a wide variety of production processes, and plays a strategic role in building the competitive advantage of our industrial system.
The leadership of IVM has also been made possible by the strong synergy with Italy’s deeply rooted culture of manufacturing in the wood-furniture production chain, a segment which the Group has interacted with ever since its founding.
BCA is an unprecedented category of wood coatings capable of concentrating – for the first time in a single technology – the finest characteristics of pre-catalyzed and post-catalyzed ureic finishes, polyurethane and acrylic, boosting their performance and offering the market previously unthinkable functional potentialities. Surpassing today’s maximum standards, BCA provides functional properties that exceed all expectations in terms of surface hardness, resistance to abrasion, yellowing caused by light, and stains caused by liquids. The product delivers very fast drying times and long pot life to ensure extremely easy use, without sacrificing great aesthetic results.
All this through a rigorously green approach, which is one of the main characteristics of the Milesi brand. The BCA products contain no aromatic compounds, isocyanates or formaldehyde, which does not develop even during the application of these coatings. An important new achievement for IVM, the Italian model in the area of technologies for the sustainable production of wood coatings.
The groundwork for BCA – whose name comes from the process allowing finish curing –has been the winning choice of the Group to use – for the first time in the world – a resin never previously utilized in the wood coatings sector, thanks to constant research on new raw materials conducted by IVM in constant search for innovation. The idea arose in 2016 from the desire to provide the American market, with its own technological specificities and regulations, with a new product capable of combining the excellent functional and aesthetic performance of polyurethane solutions with the absence of isocyanides, which is a characteristic of their usual formulation. With the BCA technology, IVM researchers have developed a formula that goes well beyond the initial expectations, to the point of no longer being comparable to any existing category.
“BCA represents a Copernican revolution for the sector. We are proud to have been the first to achieve this result. This is an example of excellence for our Group and the Italian economy, in the very close ongoing relationship with the wood furnishings industry.” says Federica Teso, vice-president of IVM Group.
Ilaria Lombardi, director of Research and Development of IVM Group, adds: “With BCA a new era begins for wood coatings, with solutions that would have been unthinkable in the past, which will set unprecedented functional and aesthetic standard never achieved before in a single solution. We believe that this unique innovation will lay the groundwork on the market for an even more sustainable future in the field of wood coatings.”
Founded in 1946, Milesi is a brand of the IVM Group, one of the largest and most influential wood coatings manufacturers in Europe and in the world. Today, Milesi coatings are manufactured in the headquarters in Parona, in the province of Pavia, and distributed in over 100 countries under various brands of the Group.
Within the wood coatings sector, the IVM Group is among the world’s leading manufacturers and the largest in Italy: it controls and manages some of the most important companies in Europe, with historical brands such as Milesi, Ilva and Croma Lacke, and it markets its products worldwide through a network of specialized distributors. The IVM Group is today present in more than 100 Countries. Its paints can meet the needs of both the production of large automated facilities and those of accomplished wood craftsmen, home building, shipbuilding or art. The Companies part of the Group have access to an efficient widespread Distribution and Technical Support network that guarantees its Customers an all-encompassing service, including the development of solutions that best meet specific design, support finishing and production cycle requirements.
Under the brand name Intercoating, the IVM Group produces resins for the manufacturing of coating products and elastomers for the synthetic leather sector. The strong family ownership, which has always ruled out a family-type management, together with an independent and reliable Management staff, capable of maximizing the use of resources and the constant R&D activity (more than 8% of its proceeds is invested in research) are among the many factors that has allowed IVM to become today, one of the leading Groups in this sector.
IVM has always been committed to actively promoting safety and reducing the impact of its processes, products and services on the environment, with the precise aim to ensure the maximum respect for the environment and human health both in production and usage phases. All processes, from the arrival of the raw materials to the packaging, take place without the emission of pollutants, thanks to sophisticated closed-loop systems and cryogenic systems that clean the air before releasing it into the environment. The Group directly produces the resins used in its products, using renewable raw materials up to 60%.
Visit IVM at IWF in Atlanta, GA
August 22-25, 2018
Building C – Exhibit Hall Level - Booth 658
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