The most durable powder coater in the Netherlands

The powder coating process must be able to be improved, to gain both ecological and economic benefits. This was the thought of Jan-Bart van Merksteijn when he retired from Van Merksteijn Staalcoating after 11 years. In 2023, his new company Ansova is ready to put this into practice, powder coating small to large steel structures, distribution halls, large-scale retail and utility buildings. 

"I got into a conversation with Jan Hardeman, now co-owner of Ansova," says Van Merksteijn. "After the initial talks, there appeared to be a good click. We both have the ambition to build the most sustainable, efficient powder coating line in the Netherlands. Jan also liked the idea of naming our new company Ansova, after my daughters Anne-Sophie and Valerie." 

Easily accessible

Van Merksteijn explained that certain processes at other powder coaters were outdated or inefficient. "From experience, I knew that there were a lot of gains to be made, for example by improving logistics in order to run more in the same amount of time." To realize this, first of all, a good location was needed for the new company. "We needed a lot of land, next to the highway. In Wehl, just near Arnhem, we found almost 8.1 acres in total. This location is ideal because we are easily accessible from North Brabant, Germany, Twente and the Veluwe. So in terms of transport, we are not inferior to our competitors." 

Minimize consumption, maximize production 

Ansova's ambition, however, is to be béter than the competition. "We want to be the most sustainable and efficient powder coater," says Van Merksteijn. "Powder coating is a more sustainable solution than wet coating anyway. In fact, powder coating requires about 60% of material, without solvents or chemical waste. Thanks to new technology, combined with our own ideas, we can reduce this consumption by another 25% per m2. We do this by better regulating the output of guns."

"Many production lines get stuck processing complex structures. To prevent this, we have doubled our suspension systems. This keeps the production speed constant and makes our production line suitable for both large and smaller and more complex constructions. Our production speed is 33% faster than the fastest in the Netherlands. In addition, we have increased the traverses by 20%, so that the maximum height is not 2.5 meters, but 3 meters high." 

75% less gas

The fact that production is more streamlined has a positive effect on energy consumption. "As a result, our production line 75% uses less gas than a line from the 1990s. How the ovens are set up is also related to this; they are custom-made for us. For these ovens, we use a different form of gas than natural gas. To compensate for the CO2 tax, we pay an amount to our gas supplier for every m3 of gas. This money is used to offset consumption and we can demonstrate this to our customers on a project-by-project basis." 

The power used by Ansova is partly generated by solar panels. "On a good day, this means we don't use any external energy during the day. This is a good step toward working CO2 neutral. This will come even closer if we can supply solar energy back. We also look for ecological solutions for certain products and actually produce no waste, because this is used again as raw material by our supplier."

Ansova will begin trial runs in January. Starting in February, the volume will be built up in a controlled manner.