The centre dedicated to researching and replicating the coating process of any vehicle manufacturer will serve more than 100 automotive factories.
On the morning of Wednesday 14th
June 2023, BASF held the official opening ceremony of the new Technology Competence Center at the facilities of BASF Española in Marchamalo (Spain). The centre, which covers an area of 310,000 m2, will be dedicated to researching and replicating the painting process of any vehicle manufacturer.
The Technology Competence Center will serve more than 100 automotive factories in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia, including manufacturers of plastic parts for the same industry. The site will take into account the various individual factors in each production line – such as temperature, humidity or coating technology. The centre is digitally connected with the internal process management and control systems of the company, so it shares all relevant information with other BASF sites worldwide.
BASF invested around €14 million euros in this facility. The equipment installed includes state-of-the-art technologies and three modern production plants – two for painting and one for the production of intermediate resins. The site also includes a refinish paint training centre for customer workshops, as well as control and development laboratories for all its main segments of high-tech products for the automotive industry.
However, its construction has been a challenge, since the company had to carry out the works and the equipment installation of the new application booths while maintaining the productive flow in the old ones, without affecting the quality or capacity of the process in continuous service to the end customer.
The official opening ceremony was attended by José Luis Escudero, the regional minister of Sustainable Development of Castilla - La Mancha, and the mayor president of the city of Marchamalo, Rafael Esteban Santamaría. The representation of the company was headed by Uta Holzenkamp, the president of the global Coatings division, Carles Navarro Vigo, the general manager of BASF Española, and the site manager Lars Kuellenberg.