Goodbye to Defects in Chemical Conversion: How COLMA srl Revolutionized Their Process with ALIT’s Drizzling System
In the world of industrial manufacturing, process optimization and quality control are crucial for competitiveness and outstanding results. COLMA, a respected name in the design and manufacturing of window systems and curtain walling, has always relied on innovation to enhance its processes and deliver top-tier products to clients. In this context, their partnership with ALIT Technologies has marked a significant leap forward, especially in the aluminum surface treatment process, enhancing product performance to even higher levels.
Who is COLMA s.r.l.?
Founded in the 1990s, COLMA has become a leading company in the window and curtain wall sector, with manufacturing facilities spanning over 30,000 m² of covered space. Specializing in multiple processes such as sheet metal cutting and bending, curving, painting, and aluminum decoration, COLMA provides certified and guaranteed solutions. Their mission is clear: to support window manufacturers, design studios, and showrooms with high-quality products and highly customized services.
Alongside their commitment to quality, COLMA prioritizes environmental sustainability. They utilize photovoltaic systems to power their plants and have achieved an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD), confirming the optimization of production processes and significant reduction of waste.
The Challenge: Enhancing Performance and Customization
As a continually evolving company, COLMA pursued an advanced solution to optimize chemical conversion treatment on aluminum before painting. Their traditional spray-based process, which involved immersion tanks, presented limitations: it was neither selective nor tailored enough for different types of metal sheets and paints, making precise control difficult.
COLMA clearly required a system that allowed enhanced customization of surface treatment, minimized waste, and provided greater accuracy and automation throughout the process.
ALIT’s Solution: The Drizzling System
In response to this need, ALIT Technologies introduced the Drizzling system, an advanced technology for metal surface treatments offering significant advantages compared to traditional methods.
ALIT’s Drizzling system enables remote-controlled and customized dosing of the conversion product, tailored specifically to client requirements and the type of metal sheet used. The system also offers remote and local alarm monitoring, ensuring continuous control and enhanced operational safety.
The operating principle behind the Drizzling system is straightforward yet revolutionary: the passivation solution is continuously and precisely mixed with demineralized water, ensuring the freshness and purity of the solution. This freshly prepared mixture is then atomized directly onto metal surfaces, eliminating the need for a recirculating passivation tank.
Advantages of the Drizzling System
Adopting this innovative technology delivered concrete and measurable benefits for COLMA:
Elimination of the passivation tank: Thanks to the minimal volume of atomized solution required, there’s no longer a need for a chemical recirculation and recovery system.
Always-clean solution: Using a reduced volume of liquid ensures the passivation solution remains consistently fresh, preventing the accumulation of contaminants.
Optimized space utilization: The demineralized water supply tank can be conveniently located outside the production line, making integration easy, even in existing facilities.
Enhanced precision and control: The Drizzling system provides uniform and precise passivation, significantly improving chemical conversion quality and reducing painting defects.
In terms of production optimization, the new system has allowed COLMA to:
Reduce chemical product and demineralized water consumption;
Improve reproducibility and consistency of chemical deposits;
Minimize waste and optimize resource management;
Integrate continuous remote monitoring, increasing accuracy and reducing corrective interventions.
COLMA CEO Giuseppe Colantonio’s Perspective
The collaboration with ALIT Technologies was warmly received by Giuseppe Colantonio, CEO of COLMA, who stated:
“A year ago, we decided to partner with ALIT to enhance the performance of post-painting sheet metal bending. The improvements were tangible and impressive. Recently, we were looking for a direct dosing system for conversion products, and ALIT proposed a remotely integrated solution, exactly matching our requirements. We are extremely satisfied with their support and the results achieved. Now we can consistently guarantee top-quality deposits under any substrate conditions.”
Adopting ALIT Technologies’ Drizzling system marked a turning point for COLMA in managing aluminum surface treatment. Thanks to this solution, the company has optimized processes, reduced operational costs, and guaranteed superior product quality for its customers.
This collaboration demonstrates how technological innovation, coupled with a strategic focus on continuous improvement, can significantly impact the industrial sector. ALIT and COLMA continue their partnership, committed to refining processes further and developing increasingly tailored solutions for manufacturing needs, with a pragmatic and results-oriented approach.
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