In his well-known style, Arjan Maatkamp, general manager of UV specialist DecoRad Systems bv, based in Veenendaal, the Netherlands, did not mince words when opening our interview. No, these are not the best of times for companies in UV. DecoRad offers a complete range of portable UV curing equipment suitable for all available UV paints and coatings.

Rosier than you think
Does this mean we are heading for a story of ‘gloom and doom’? Certainly not! There are signs that the market is picking up a bit and that new space is opening up for the by far most ‘sustainable’ - and fastest - way of working in the floor coating world. If the various governments are willing to cooperate a little more, in combination with a partial reinvention of one’s own business, the future looks brighter than you might initially think.

Arjan Maatkamp: ‘It is particularly easy at the moment to put down a gloomy story with few bright spots, but that does not apply to the UV story. Like any innovation, it just needs time. In the end, we will all increasingly opt for ‘sustainable’, which means UV coating will always win. After all, how can you do better than curing with products that are totally free of VOCs? For me, the most sustainable solution is the product that lasts the longest.’
‘That does not change the fact that things are going a bit slower now. We experienced a few years of mild recession and just then innovation becomes a bit less important, which is understandable. Look at a health-care institution, for example. It runs not only on efficiency, but also on price. So you shouldn't be surprised that people then reason along the lines of good, better, best, where best is UV, but now good (traditional) is also enough....’

A little extra support
What would help is tighter legislation, with governments giving a boost to the most sustainable ways of doing things.
‘If you want sustainability to be a top priority, why not stipulate as legislators that something must be applied, instead of the current it may? I am thinking European, with more pressure being put on our industry and subsidies being provided for sustainable UV coatings. It may be a little more expensive to produce, but you get a lot in return, including a much longer life span. You can extend the same to national governments. Like, for example, that the Netherlands have discontinued the energy investment deduction on UV-A drying systems by 2024. That shouldn't be the case, because a UV-A dryer is a big difference when you compare it with energy-guzzling traditional systems.’

New opportunities
All this does not mean that people at DecoRad are moping in a corner. On the one hand, they continue to support and build on their own potential, and on the other, they are capitalizing on new opportunities. Such as by putting much more emphasis on partnerships, think of doing trade shows together.
Arjan Maatkamp: ‘To give an example: at next year's World of Concrete in Las Vegas, we are supporting a customer of ours with great potential. This client is offering its services to third parties at the show and we are supporting him with our expertise, helping him grow. After all, the more successful our customer is, the more UV machines we will supply to him. We are better off at this moment spending our time and energy in this instead of finding new customers. Together, we set up a two-day event a few times a year where interested parties come to sample the offerings.’
‘For several years we have already been distributors of Forbo Eurocol UV lacquer and soon a new brand from Sweden will be added: UVElite from Arboritec. UVElite is intended for the renovation of ‘resilient’ floors in general, and thus also for LVT and PVC. UVElite therefore nicely complements Forbo Eurocol's 326 UV-CareShield developed for the renovation of linoleum floors. We now have 18 years of experience in UV-on-site and then you know quite well what is good and what is not. We have a training programme for users both in operating the UV equipment and in the application of the UV coatings.’

UV Floorcure 2030
What else can we expect on site? In that context, Arjan Maatkamp talks about the new UV Floorcure 2030, launched on the market this year. This is a very affordable ‘handheld’ and ‘floorcuring’ machine in one, especially for water-based UV coatings and a cost-saving development. The website www.decorad.com has all the information, along with a user video.
It goes without saying that UV curing remains the method of the future: ‘A UV-coated surface can be used immediately, the quality is fantastic and it doesn't get more durable than this. There is so little objection to not doing it that it has to break through, and not just in the flooring sector. Don't forget that our equipment goes everywhere, even finishing high-quality UV coatings from cruise ships to aircrafts. We operate in 45 countries and actually I shouldn't say this, but where UV coating of wooden floors is currently lagging a bit behind, UV coating of concrete floors is doing a lot better, with our machines being used in warehouses and distribution centres, among others.’

‘By the way, what I would like to add as a bouncer: I am more convinced than ever that the future will belong to the specialist. Look at department stores and other big chains falling over because they are specialists in nothing. The reverse is true for a company like DecoRad. You don't buy UV products from wholesalers, but from people who can give you a specialist explanation, supplemented by the necessary training in coating and machines. Our world needs specialists, not generalists...’