Developer and manufacturer of atmospheric plasma systems for surface pretreatment Plasmatreat is expanding into Austria by founding Plasmatreat Austria GmbH based in Steyr (Upper Austria). The new subsidiary will be managed by Helmut Beinhakl, an engineer with experience from the automotive, packaging and plastics industries.
With the new location in Steyr, Plasmatreat, headquartered in Steinhagen, Germany, is further expanding its global sales and service network. “The steadily increasing demand and the growing number of our customers in Austria have prompted us to establish a subsidiary there as well,“ explains Lukas Buske, Managing Director of Plasmatreat Germany. Existing and new customers are welcome to visit the new office and experience the Openair-Plasma and PlasmaPlus technology live. The new office will be equipped with various plasma units and systems from the headquarters in Steinhagen, Germany, which can be used to test customer components and perform plasma treatments.
New Managing Director
Since the beginning of January, Helmut Beinhakl has been responsible for the support of existing customers and the acquisition of new customers in the Austrian market and is now also Managing Director of Plasmatreat Austria GmbH. Beinhakl is now the first point of contact at Plasmatreat for all issues relating to activation and cleaning with Openair-Plasma or coating with the PlasmaPlus process, e.g. for corrosion protection, of various materials such as plastics, glass, metal or textiles
As a sales and key account manager as well as a production and sales manager, Beinhakl has many years of experience and knowledge in the automotive, packaging and plastics industries. His expertise and passion for innovative products and processes are profitable factors for the success of Plasmatreat in Austria.
“The environmentally friendly technology and the company‘s vision to shape the future and, for example, to replace primers and wet chemical pre-treatment methods in manufacturing processes, have made a lasting impression on me and encouraged me to become part of this team,” said Beinhakl.
Openair-Plasma
“Openair-Plasma is generated using simple compressed air and electricity, making it a dry and environmentally friendly alternative to conventional surface treatment methods. It helps to significantly reduce the global carbon footprint and VOC emissions in production processes,“ says Beinhakl. “Subsequent processes include printing, painting, bonding or sealing.“ Together with its customers and partners, Beinhakl wants to replace environmentally harmful pre-treatment methods in Austrian production and is also very interested in developing resource-efficient solutions with plasma technology for these manufacturing processes.
Optimizing industrial processes
When plasma with its high energy level comes into contact with materials, it changes the surface properties, for example from hydrophobic to hydrophilic. Plasma technology requires only compressed air and electricity for operation. Fine cleaning with Openair-Plasma gently and reliably removes dust, release agents, additives, plasticizers and hydrocarbons from surfaces. Especially with non-polar plastics, plasma treatment achieves surface activation. It supports the increase of surface energy by introducing hydroxyl groups and thus improves adhesion in subsequent processes such as bonding, printing, painting and sealing. The company‘s PlasmaPlus technology can also be used to create targeted functionalized surfaces with defined properties by applying (depositing) nanocoatings, e.g. as an additional adhesion promoter layer.
