Wet-end innovation

A recent seminar and travelling road show in Bangkok, Thailand, highlighted Stahl's wet-end products under the theme Quality Improvement through Beamhouse and Retanning Techniques. The event, organised by Stahl Thailand in conjunction with Stahl Asia, consisted of a six hour seminar followed by an opportunity to view and study a range of crust leathers prior to finishing and produced using the latest products and techniques. The seminar was opened by Stahl's local agent, Surachat Chuenchoksan, of the Brain Group. His welcoming speech 'Leather Industry Outlook' set the scene by looking at the present as well as into the future possibilities for developing the leather industry in Thailand. This was followed by a presentation by Jean Heyer, business manager, colours and tanning products, Singapore for Stahl Asia, giving a world view of the leather business including the potential for future development with particular reference to placing Thailand's leather industry firmly on the world stage. Two keynote presentations were given to assist in providing delegates with a feeling of constructive teamwork across the whole of the worldwide Stahl organisation. The first was given by Dr Rudolf Zauns Huber from Stahl International's headquarters in Waalwijk, Holland. Entitled Compact Wet-Finishing - an Innovative Concept of the Wet-End Process, it centred around the new Compact Polymer products, the new Compact Synektans and Renektans and the new and innovative Corilene Compact Polymer Family. An informative technical presentation by Stahl Asia's recognised beamhouse expert from Korea, S S Yie, was titled Importance of the Beamhouse Work for the Production of High Quality Leather. Stahl Asia's highly successful Bemanol range of beamhouse products was highlighted. These include selected products that are used in the first steps of the wet-end process. Other features of the seminar included a series of papers on leather trends throughout the world which brought the day to an interesting end. These were given in the surroundings of a display of thirty different types of leather, tailor-made to illustrate the preceding presentations and products. Considerable interest was generated amongst the Thai tanners who actively discussed and interchanged opinions and ideas with Stahl's technical staff. A range of leathers was presented based on teamwork between finishing and wet-end staff at Stahl's laboratories in Singapore. With over a hundred customers from the Bangkok area attending, the seminar proved to be an interesting and friendly day which delegates found most enjoyable.