News Release 13th August 2009

Chinese spray roasters meet sticky end

Cooper Coated Coil (CCC), the UK's leading producer of specialist pre-coated metals for non-stick bakeware, says retailers and shoppers are being confused by more expensive but inferior quality imports from China.

CCC, the first company to apply non-stick coatings by coil coat technology in the early 1970s, is now facing increased competition from Chinese bakeware manufacturers who spray their products with a silicon coating. In comparison, CCC applies its non-stick coatings directly to the metal substrate in a highly controlled and environmentally friendly process.

"Because the Chinese use heavier guage steel, up to 1mm thick, retailers are under the impression that it is a premium product, but that's not the real picture," said Kevin Tranter, CCC's managing director.

In tests, the top three performers were all coil coated products, with the bottom three being Chinese sprayed roasters

The Test

To test the performance of Chinese spray against coil coat technology, CCC's research and development team carried out accelerated roasting tests on eight tins bought at random from supermarkets and high street stores. Four were Chinese spray products and four were coil coated with DuPont's Teflon®.

The tests were performed to an industry-recognised protocol, involving roasting a standard sized chicken at high temperature for a set time, soaking the tin for five minutes, light hand washing, followed by a dishwasher cycle.

The tins were tested over 15 cycles, designed to mimic a typical kitchen shelf life of four to six months, or until the coating failed, whichever was sooner. They were scored on easy release of the roasted meat, the amount of staining on the inside and how easy they were to clean.

The top three performers were all coil coated products, with the bottom three being Chinese sprayed roasters. The highest priced product, at £7.75, came sixth out of eight. Notably, the lowest scoring product carried a two year guarantee but showed marked deterioration in release, hand washing and staining after just four cycles, with parts of its coating perforating after seven.

"We had to stop testing early on three of the four Chinese products because areas of the non-stick coating had failed," said Derek Crawford, CCC's technical director. "Even the best Chinese roaster, which completed the full testing process and came fourth, demonstrated inferior release, hand washing and staining half way through." Two of the coil coat products also failed the tests, showing signs of paint failure but only in the later stages, after the 13th and 14th cycles.

As we say "It's the coating that counts" and CCC sets a new standard for non stick coated products.

"Spray coating is a highly inefficient process, with only an estimated 50-60% of the coating hitting the target, as opposed to more than 95% paint usage with coil coating," Crawford commented. "Spray is also less accurate, delivering widely varying coating thickness with shadows and 'high spots' on the bakeware. Coil coating is an extremely controlled process, resulting in consistent quality and performance."

In addition, the European coil coating industry is highly regulated. CCC has to meet a range of environmental standards for water, land and air emissions and for waste management. The company's new production centre in Wolverhampton, with its recently installed £4 million coil coating line, aims to halve its energy consumption per tonne compared to its previous operation.

"The carbon footprint of Chinese bakeware is far from impressive," said Crawford. "Apart from excessive waste in the manufacturing process, finished products have to be shipped half way round the world to get to market. In contrast, the European coil coating industry uses home-produced lighter guage steel and coatings."

CCC, who offer the widest range non-stick coatings for bakeware products in Europe, is planning to extend its testing to a wider range of predominantly silicone-based spray coatings. Their performance will be judged against coil coated products that contain high proportions of well tried and tested PTFE.

Tranter said: "We have shown that, with one exception, the Chinese non-stick bakeware products we tested under-performed against lower-priced, coil-coated rivals. Broader testing will give us more evidence of how coil coat technology measures up and will identify where it would be valuable for us to carry out further development work with both coating and bakeware manufacturers."

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News Release 10th November 2008  

World class manufacturing in Wednesfield

Cooper Coated Coil (CCC) has installed the world’s widest and fastest high temperature coil coating line as part of a £5 million to a new, single centre production facility in Wednesfield.

The firm, which employs 55 people at the Planetary Road Industrial Estate, applies a range of coatings to metal, most of which goes into making non-stick bakeware and kitchen appliances such as toasters and coffee machines.

The new £4 million coating line is expected to almost double productivity, helping to secure jobs.  CCC says the ability to handle much larger coils of metal will also allow it to develop into new markets, including automotive products and food packaging, which could in turn create extra jobs in the future. 

CCC has expanded rapidly since taking over the former Wednesfield business, Fabricote, in 2006.  The company has completely refurbished and reorganised its 32,000 sq.ft premises at Planetary Road, replacing both firms’ old coil coating lines with the single new one.  CCC has also taken extra space at the site and is transferring the rest of its operation from its base in Elwell Street, West Bromwich early in 2009.

As well as making CCC more efficient and better equipped to expand into new markets, there will be significant environmental benefits from merging the two plants into one.  Energy consumption, for example, is expected to be around half that used by the separate operations.

Kevin Tranter, CCC’s managing director, said:  “We are bucking the trend and investing in manufacturing in the West Midlands, which will help to secure jobs.  CCC has always been at the forefront of coil coating technology and the new facilities at Wednesfield will make us a true world leader.  It means we can also offer exciting new product development opportunities to a greater range of globally-based customers.”

CCC is a division of Metalrax Group plc, the specialist steels engineering and consumer durables group. The group is a major employer in the West Midlands and includes nine manufacturing firms based in Bloxwich, Bordesley Green, Hockley, Kings Norton, Smethwick and West Bromwich.

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News Release 6th November 2008

CCC commissions world class coil coating line

Cooper Coated Coil (CCC) has commissioned the world’s widest and fastest high temperature coil coating line as part of a £5 million move to a new, single centre production facility in the West Midlands.

The £4 million investment in the high speed, high capacity, wide coil coating line is expected to double the company’s productivity on most types of its processing operations.  As well as the line’s additional speed and flexibility, its ability to handle much larger coils will also allow CCC to develop a broad range of new and existing markets including automotive products and food packaging. 

The expansion follows CCC’s integration of the former Fabricote business in 2006.  Phase two of the investment programme has seen the new line installed at the 32,000 sq.ft fully refurbished and reorganised premises at Wednesfield in Wolverhampton.  Other departments, including CCC’s highly respected research and development facility, will relocate to the new site this autumn. 

Phase three of the investment programme will involve the £1 million relocation and upgrading of CCC’s finishing operation from nearby West Bromwich to an additional building on the Wolverhampton site early in 2009.

The new coil coating line replaces both the previous CCC and Fabricote lines and is capable of handling 14 tonne coils, up to 950mm wide, at industry leading speeds.  The high precision line can coat a wide variety of substrates including aluminium, stainless steel, aluminised steel, Hi-Top or ECCS, tinplate, electro-zinc, galvanised and cold rolled steel.  The range of coatings extends from decorative, to non-stick, heat or wear resistant and adhesive paint or film, in thicknesses from 3 microns up to 26.  Colour changeovers in under 40 minutes add to the line’s flexibility.

The environmental benefits of amalgamating the two plants will be significant, with energy consumption expected to be around half that consumed by the separate operations. The investment in the new line will provide a more efficient operation for existing customers in CCC’s predominantly housewares and kitchen appliance-based markets.

Kevin Tranter, CCC’s managing director, commented:  “Transferring all coating operations onto the new high speed, high capacity, wide line at Wolverhampton will make us a true world leader in the specialist application of high temperature coatings to an unrivalled variety of metals.   

“We have always been at the forefront of coil coating technology and this latest manufacturing investment means we can offer exciting new product development opportunities to a greater range of globally-based customers.”