St. Petersburg, Fla.-based Extreme Coatings built a new 15,000-square-foot facility in Gmunden, Austria, to produce coatings for feed screws used in injection molding and extrusion.
The company established a European subsidiary, Extreme Coating GmbH, and formed a strategic partnership with the Austrian engineering firm FS Maschinenbau to operate the facility, expected to open in early October.
Founded in 1996, Extreme Coatings' products encapsulate industrial components to protect them from wear and corrosion, which, in turn, improves performance and extends service life.
The products, made of tungsten or chromium carbide, are applied to new and repaired feedscrews in a process that provides a hard, dense and crack-free coating.
Extreme Coatings has operations in India, South Korea and Chile.
The increased capacity in Austria will shorten lead times, reduce shipping costs, and establish local supply for a growing customer base in Europe, according to Scott Caplan, executive vice president of Extreme Coatings.
''The market demand for our wear-resistant coatings has shown exponential growth in several key application areas for quite some time," Caplan said in a news release. "We've expanded our global footprint so we can break the logistical logjam that exists today and ensure stable supply to all key European regions."
The company says demand in Europe is coming from plastics processors in the automotive, household goods and building markets.
Extreme Coatings entered into a licensing agreement with FS Maschinenbau to provide engineering and manufacturing service at the plant using Extreme Coatings' technology, know-how and new equipment.
Markus Secklehner, chief operating officer of FS Maschinenbau, said the firm looks forward to bringing its engineering and manufacturing expertise to the partnership "to ensure steady supply of product for years to come."
In addition to feedscrews, Extreme Coating's thermal spray technology and proprietary coating formulations are used for mixing rotors and tip assemblies as well downhole mud rotors and fracture pump plunger in the oil and gas industry.
At K 2022, the company will exhibit in Hall 13, A89-06.