FURNITURE FACTORY KORHONEN THE FIRST GLOBALLY TO EMPLOY TIKKURILA'S UVITEC METHOD

Furniture Factory Korhonen Oy, best known as the manufacturer of high-quality Alvar Aalto furniture, has taken into use the UVITEC coating method launched by Tikkurila and its partners last year. With its open-minded approach to new technologies Korhonen has earned world-wide success, as can be read from history books in the field. Tikkurila has also been ready to combine traditions with the latest technology and developed products and methods to fulfil even future requirements.

Furniture Factory Korhonen Oy, based in Littoinen (Finland) is once again a pioneer in furniture production taking into use, as the first globally in its field, the new coating method for chairs and other 3D objects. The method developed by Tikkurila Coatings Oy, the Finnish Sasmetor Oy and the German BASF AG can be used for improving product quality in a cost-effective and environmentally sound way. This will offer the furniture manufacturer a great advantage compared to competitors and facilitate customers' choice when purchasing pieces of furniture.

The UVITEC method includes water-borne, UV-curing LUMINOL paints and lacquers, a spray booth with a recovery system and UVITEC, a new UV-curing device especially designed for 3D objects, in which curing of water-borne UV lacquer takes place under inert atmosphere in carbon dioxide. The new method, which received the RadTech Europe innovation award in October 2005, has various benefits:
- Very low VOC emissions in production, low energy and carbon dioxide consumption.
- Low investment costs: it is possible to upgrade existing production lines to use UVITEC technology.
- Costs in material, production process and waste management are lower than for methods based on conventional solvent-borne systems.
- The finished surface has equal or better properties than achieved with conventional, high-quality solvent-borne products.
- Reduced throughput time in production: Products are immediately ready for packaging.
- Low curing temperature, suitable for heat-sensitive materials such as pinewood, plastics, etc.

For more information please contact:

Mikael Knif, Key Account Manager, Tikkurila Coatings Oy, Export Sales
Tel. +358 9 8577 4256, www.tikkurila.com

Kari Piispanen, Technical Director, Huonekalutehdas Korhonen Oy,
Tel. +358 2 275 1206, www.hkt-korhonen.fi/eng

Tikkurila Coatings Oy is part of Tikkurila, the company responsible for Kemira's paints and coatings business. With net sales of EUR 458 million in 2005, Tikkurila is the leading paint manufacturer in North and East Europe. The company has production units in seven countries and sales units in six more countries. The product range comprises decorative paints and industrial coatings for applications in the wood and metal industry.

Furniture Factory Korhonen Oy has always been a pioneer in developing the Finnish furniture trade. Cooperation between the founder, Otto Korhonen, and the famous Finnish architect, Alvar Aalto, which started in the 1920s, has contributed a great deal to the Finnish furniture design and international reputation of the industry. Alvar Aalto furniture still forms the major part of the production, which employs 80 persons today. Net sales amount to EUR 5 million, and 40% of the production is exported to all over the world.

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