Parts Cleaning on Display in Germany

It wasn’t so much the 15-percent increase in attendance at the parts2clean technical conference and trade show in Stuttgart, Germany, in October that excited the 250+ vendors on display, but rather the level of the attendees. Most of the visitors to the show—the 11th in a row in Stuttgart—were the people tasked with picking and buying the cleaning equipment for their manufacturing operation or finishing shop. That made it a much more interesting exhibition for the companies who put their wares on display at the largest parts cleaning trade show in Europe.

“We made a number of very good contacts with cleaning media users from Germany, as well as other countries,” says Chuck Sexton, sales manager of Industrial Products at the U.S.-based cleaning media manufacturer Kyzen. “Parts2clean is also a good opportunity to build and strengthen our relationships with manufacturers of cleaning supplies and equipment.”

Sue Benes, product marketing manager for FEI’s ASPEX Product Group based in the U.S., says the event was a good one for her company, which displayed its CleanCHK parts cleanliness analyzer.

“Each year, I am amazed at the talent and experience of the people that attend parts2clean. The technical presentations given reflect the wealth of knowledge that the European community has acquired on parts cleanliness,” she says. “This insight was valuable to us in developing our latest product, the CleanCHK parts cleanliness analyzer, which was very well received during demonstrations in our booth. People were very impressed with the incredible amount of information that the analyzer can provide to manufacturers to help them improve automotive part cleanliness.”

Hartmut Herdin, with fairXperts GmbH—one of the organizers and promoters of the conference—says the surveys done of attendees showed that 89 percent are involved in corporate decision making processes for parts cleaning equipment.

“The exhibitors were enthusiastic about the high levels of technical competence and decision-making authority demonstrated by the visitors and their concrete requests for quotations,” Mr. Herdin says.

The 264 exhibiting companies were a 15-percent increase from 2012 and an all-time record. And at 68,350 square feet, the amount of leased-space was also unprecedented. The exhibitors came from 16 countries, with about 20 percent coming from outside Germany, according to show organizers.

The attendee count for the 3 days of the conference was 4,982, which was up just more than 14 percent from 2012, and also a record. Show organizers say visitors came from 49 countries, 10 more than last year.

The conference’s bilingual expert forum—given in both German and English with a translator—attracted a record-breaking 2,181 participants.

“We are delighted that parts2clean has enhanced its performance significantly on all fronts and that our growth and internationalization strategy is bearing fruit,” says Olaf Daebler, Deutsche Messe’s director in charge of parts2clean. “The pleasing numbers tell only part of the story. The fair’s high level of exhibitor and visitor satisfaction are just as important, if not more so.”

With so many of the attendees of the show having input into their company’s capital investment decisions, a lot of project-specific dialogue went on in the booths and display stands at the conference. “This year we made about 20 percent more contacts than in 2012, which is a fantastic result,” says Hans-Jörg Wössner, managing director of Advanced Clean Production GmbH, Germany. “They included a large number of qualified and high-quality new contacts and inquiries, the majority of which related to dry, partial cleaning and integrated pre-assembly cleaning solutions.”

Technology was on display aplenty at the show, besides the bilingual presentations and forums. Here’s a look at some of the more interesting new pieces of equipment on display:

SITA Messtechnik showcased hand-held measuring devices and process measuring technology for bath monitoring and parts control to ensure high quality in industrial parts cleaning. The CleanoSpector detects slightest traces of residual contamination, allowing the plant operator to interfere in time and prevent defective parts. sita-messtechnik.de

Dürr Ecoclean unveiled the EcoCCore for operation with non-halogenated hydrocarbons, modified alcohols and polar solvents. Engineers paid special attention to the reduction of costs per unit in the cleaning process, an increase in process reliability, optimized handling and footprint reduction. durr-ecoclean.com

BvL Oberflächentechnik demonstrated its Niagara cleaning system, which is used by a Russian automaker to clean 40 cylinder housings an hour (90 seconds per housing). Ducts are cleaned with a nozzle frame that can be lowered prior to a spray and flood cleaning that is applied with a rotating, pivoting or stationary aero wheel that guarantees comprehensive cleaning of the whole part. A vacuum drying process ensures 100 percent drying. bvl-group.de

Consorzio Unimatic premiered its Hydrojet, a series of closed equipment operating with hydrocarbon-based solvents, modified alcohols and glycol ethers. The system uses a technique called “Multigrade Vacuum System,” which increases the quality of the results by reducing the total cycle time. www.consorziounimatic.it

Dietermann & Heuser Solution presented the dhs-Cleanalyzer software, Version 4.0, which supports all external devices such as cameras, microscopes, control units and scanners with 32- and 64-bit drivers. New features include improved shading correction to compensate for lighting inhomogeneities, a new autofocus to simplify measurement, a panorama function in post-analysis to display particles that are bigger than a camera image, live camera image visualization and marking of particles during measurement. dhssolution.com

Lomapro highlighted its new Q-Filter active-vacuum belt filter, which the company claims offers significant advantages compared with conventional vacuum filters because it combines high efficiency (removes particles down to 10 microns or less) with high vacuum (small vacuum pump, yet 200 mbar), resulting in low filtration costs. q-filtration.eu

Metallform Wächter presented a highly flexible solution to quickly and inexpensively adapt MEFO-Boxes to changing parts using two types of inserts, one for forming compartment rows, the other for determining compartments’ depth, allowing for the secure placement of parts. www.metallform.de

Anton Paar showcased a low-price solution for online measurement with the new density transducer L-Dens 427E, which continuously measures the density and temperature of non-corrosive process liquids. This small and compact transducer can be easily integrated in measuring stations and adapted to individual applications. Depending on the application, process connections and user programs for calculating the concentration are available. anton-paar.com

Pero AG presented a range of equipment for aqueous spray cleaning, working with pH neutral, alkaline or acidic media. The company also displayed a solvent cleaning machine at the show. pero.ag

SensoTech had on display the LiquiSonic analyzer, which determines bath concentration and ensures a quality-assured and efficient process control. The sensors consist entirely of stainless steel DIN 1.4571 and are installed preferably in the circulation pipe after the pump. sensotech.com

Maschinenbau Silberhorn showed off a phosphate coating machine for injector bodies that was originally manufactured and delivered for a manufacturer of diesel fuel injector systems. The company developed and manufactured the 22-stage machine with a throughput of 10 batches per hour from start to finish. maschinenbau-silberhorn.de

Stockmeier Chemie showcased its new demulsifier Demulgat E 78, a chloride-free additive that removes oil, soap and particulate material effectively from depleted neutral and alkaline cleaning solutions. It also protects ferrous material, aluminum and nonferrous metal against corrosion. Used in strong alkaline fluids, the demulsifier has a good defoaming effect. stockmeier.de

Martin Walter Ultraschalltechnik presented its new ultrasonic benchtop series Powersonic cleaning systems, which are available in eight different sizes with bath volumes between 2.8 and 26 liters and frequencies of 45 or 132 kHz. They are equipped with double-half-wave-sound with sweep function, self-secured PTC heater adjustable from 20°C to 80°C. The power control is adjustable in nine steps and the timer from 1 to 99 minutes or for continuous sonic. The units are designed for line voltage of 230 V and 115 V and will be delivered with an adapter set for global main sockets. walter-ultraschall.de

Weber Ultrasonics unveiled a 1-MHz ultrasonic module generator, Ultrasonic Micro Cleaning, with a power output of 250 and 500 watts. The 19-inch megasonic generator can be optimally matched to the specific cleaning task, ensuring maximum stability of all process-relevant parameters, high efficiency and minimum space requirements. www.weber-ultrasonics.de

This year, parts2clean and the O&S (the international trade fair for surface treatment and coatings) will take place concurrently in Stuttgart from June 24 to 26. Also at the venue will be LASYS, the international trade fair for system solutions in laser material processing, and the Automotive Expo, a suite of shows dealing with various aspects of the automotive industry.

For more information about the show, visit www.parts2clean.de.