Customers are the main focus of a new training centre opened by AkzoNobel at its Santo André site near São Paulo in Brazil.
Initially catering for wood coatings customers in the furniture industry, the new facility will offer advanced training programs centred on the company's Sparlack Industrial range of products.
Facilities include spray application booths, as well as equipment which reproduces the paint line – notably a UV (ultraviolet) technology simulator. Due to be fully operational by September, there are plans to expand the training program to include metal, marine, protective and yacht coatings by the end of the year.
"We are very proud of the new training centre, which highlights our commitment to deepening our relationship with our customers," said Jelena Arsic, Regional Director of AkzoNobel in South America. "It will help us to further strengthen customer service standards, promote localized innovation of our products and create the right value for our customers and distributors."
Added Eduardo Bruno, the company's Wood Coatings Sales Manager in Brazil: "This is a valuable addition to our service offer which will help us to better understand customer needs and create better solutions in terms of efficiencies, design and performance. By offering advanced training programs, we're enabling customers and partners to experience the application process, ask questions and make suggestions which could speed up the supply of the product to the client."
The Santo André production site, which was expanded in May last year, manufactures and supplies high performance industrial, marine and yacht coatings. Its new training centre is the second to have been opened by AkzoNobel in the space of eight months. A regional facility offering similar advanced programs was opened in Dubai in November. It focuses in particular on original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and refinishers in industries as diverse as automotive and rail, aerospace and consumer electronics.
AkzoNobel has thousands of scientists around the world, who drive innovation through an expanding portfolio of sustainable products. The company invested €270 million in paints and coatings R&D globally last year.