Following the strategic merger between Hornschuch and Benecke-Kaliko under the umbrella of the Continental Corporation, the new unit Benecke-Hornschuch Surface Group is dedicated to the topic of quality in the handling and processing of 3D furniture films.
Ten years ago, the 3-D Furniture Front Production Initiative Group was founded with the aim of continuously satisfying the increased quality requirements for the handling and processing of the individual material components for 3-D furniture fronts, as well as the process steps required for an optimum joining process. Film-coated 3-D furniture fronts are widely used in the furniture industry. Having been an integral part of the manufacturers’ product ranges in the kitchen and bathroom furniture industry from the very beginning, they have become increasingly established in living room and bedroom furniture in recent years.
Ten industry-leading companies, which together form the 3-D Furniture Fronts Initiative Group under the umbrella of the German Adhesives Association (Industrieverband Klebstoffe) and the Association of Foil Manufacturers (Industrieverband Kunststoffbahnen – IVK), have revised and updated the Quality Guide, which has been in existence since 2009, as well as added the chapter on “Quality Assurance and Control”. The upshot of this has been Quality Guide 2.0, an extended and supplemented new edition, which is in line with today’s market requirements. Its 36 pages provide practical know-how on all aspects of the manufacture of 3-D furniture fronts. All relevant components of the entire process chain as well as potential influencing factors are referred to and recommendations for practical applications are given.
The background was a broad-based research project on “Ingredients used in MDF and their possible significance in 3-D coating with PVC films and PU dispersion adhesives”, which was initiated in 2013 as a project by the Central Innovation Programme for SMEs (Zentrales Innovationsprogramm Mittelstand (ZIM)). The result, which has been available since last year, was recently published and induced the Initiative Group to publish a new edition of the Quality Guide.
The Quality Guide is published by the German Adhesives Association and the Association of Foil Manufacturers.
There is currently a German and an English version available as a PDF document; both can be downloaded from the websites of the member companies and the two associations. Both language versions are also available as a printed document which can be obtained free of charge from the members of the Initiative Group.
The following members of the Initiative Group were involved in the creation of the Quality Guide: BASF, Bürkle, Continental, Covestro, FB-Möbeltüren, H.B. Fuller, Henkel, Jowat, Renolit, Wemhöner.
It is planned to continue the Initiative Group and pursue the above topics further. As a result, film and surface topics will continue to be dealt with in the future and technical and qualitative measures discussed with increased frequency. The Quality Guide will then be extended accordingly and supplemented with topic-related booklets. The concept is rounded off with its own marketing activities by the Initiative Group, the aim of which is to sustainably improve the image of 3-D films or film surfaces and position them in the market as a quality product.
