Time travel

Time travel

Machines, work stations, and processes are always changing. They become faster, more modern, and more efficient. What did Wörwag’s production processes look like 50 years ago? How are coatings produced today? A trip back in time reveals some charming comparisons.

A tradition since 1918: As a family-owned company, Wörwag combines tradition and innovation. The company has roots all over the world, but its home is in the Stuttgart district of Zuffenhausen. Milestones in a success story. See the milestones in our success story in our infographic and on our website.

Attractive protective coatings

Powder coatings have always been used for special purposes. In the 50s they were applied to engine components. Even today, customers still coat many parts of their construction machines by hand. Powder-on-powder coatings help preserve the environment because they eliminate the need for intermediate curing stages that are time-consuming and energy-intensive.

Logical storage

If you seek, you need to find. While that might not always have been the case at warehouses for raw materials and semi-finished products, today’s storage systems are well thought-out and highly functional. Around 80 cans of color pastes are stored on these modern shelves and automatically stirred every four hours.

Small grains

Dispersal is the first material step in making semi-finished products and color pastes. Bead mills help to achieve the desired grain sizes. But today’s machines no longer have belt drives. These high-performance systems provide impressive results that are directly transferrable to production.

Precise simulations

Coatings live. To test new products or batches, samples are coated. Components or color plates used to be coated at spray stations. Today, this job is supported by the LabPainter, which simulates the coating processes to be carried out under customers’ production conditions. Wörwag has five of these systems.

Exact weights

For a long time, the measure of all things looked like a potato scale. It was used in the paint department to weigh binding agents or semi-finished products. Today, the individual ingredients are measured precisely down to a tenth of a gram.

Right direction

For liquid and powder coatings alike, tests are the only way to ensure quality. A certain level of dexterity is helpful here. Back in the 50s, quality assurance samples were coated by hand. Today’s products are applied to test plates in a state-of-the-art spray booth. But here, too, the operator’s hand is still an important tool.

Perfect products

No mistakes are allowed in the final step either. Finished products used to be poured into transport containers by hand. Today, the filling process is completely automated – and the operator only needs to affix the hazard label onto the drum.