The "Flowsense" technology developed by Wagner was awarded the prestigious Stuttgart surface technology prize "Die Oberfläche" 2024 on June 4 - as the only technology in the field of powder coating. The other prizes were awarded to technical solutions in the field of electroplating. "Die Oberfläche" recognizes outstanding developments from the entire industry that deal with technologies related to surface treatment and finishing.
According to the expert jury, Flowsense's most notable achievements were increased productivity, powder savings, improved quality and reduced carbon footprint.
With Flowsense, Wagner has succeeded in controlling the powder coating process in a reproducible manner. Compared to liquid paint coating, the powder coating process has so far been more of a blind flight in terms of powder feeding, where the set output quantities were neither known nor constant over the medium term due to wear and other process parameters. Users have compensated by accepting higher tolerances or more frequent manual inspections.
Powder coating on autopilot
Flowsense, on the other hand, acts as an autopilot for powder coating, independently navigating the coating process and leading to better coating results. This frees up the user to focus on other tasks.
The Stuttgart Surface Technology Award "The Surface" was presented this year at the SurfaceTechnology Germany trade fair. It honors the most innovative applications or technologies within all disciplines of surface technology and recognizes the ubiquitous yet often overlooked cross-sectional technology that "often plays a key role in the degree of innovation and progress of numerous industries without this becoming known to the general public," explains Martin Metzner. Metzner, who founded the award in 2012 and has been a member of the jury ever since, is Head of the Electroplating Technology department at the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA. Wagner was awarded the prize for the first time in 2013. The pioneering technology for process-reliable "powder coating for standard MDF boards" was awarded "The Surface 2013" in gold.