News from QUBUS

The increased demand for QUBUS’s services in the region has prompted the medium-sized engineering services provider to take this step. Andreas Mühle, managing director and shareholder of the newly founded QUBUS Planung und Beratung Oberflächentechnik Nord GmbH, will take the helm. As Mühle emphasises in this context, North Rhine-Westphalia is an ideal location for the company. “Many of our key clients in central and northern Germany are easily accessible from there,” says Mühle; “there are also numerous headquarters of international clients nearby.” Mühle will initially focus on plant and factory planning, as well as occupational health and safety, environmental protection and approval procedures.

Find out more in the Press release.

Your contact: Andreas Mühle, andreas.muehle@qubus.de

There are only a few days left of 2021. Every year at this time of year, we embrace our traditions: the big Christmas tree adorns our foyer and our hard-working trainee, on behalf of the management, hands out presents to the staff at QUBUS and IFO. As part of a virtual Christmas party, there was mulled wine, biscuits and festive music.

So all that remains to be said is: Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2022.

We would like to thank you – our customers, partners and prospective clients – for the trust you have placed in us and for our successful collaboration, and we wish you and your family all the best for the coming year!

The first step towards reducing energy consumption in a paint shop and using energy more efficiently is to understand it. Due to a lack of energy metering equipment or its unfavourable placement, paint shop operators are unable to provide any information – or can only provide insufficient information – on the energy consumption of the paint shop as a whole or of individual areas within it.

Find out more in the Post (Published in *Besser Lackieren* No. 19/2021).

Your contact: Rainer Göpfrich +49 7171 1040829, rainer.goepfrich@qubus.de

We’re delighted to support and provide information about this year’s Bandcamp in Aalen: young, up-and-coming artists come together in bands at Bandcamp (1–3 October 2021); there, under the guidance of the tutors, they work on rock and pop songs or try their hand at pieces they have written themselves. Public final concert featuring the pieces they have worked on: Sunday 3 October 2021, 5.00 pm in the Audimax at Aalen University

Further information on the Bandcamp

Qubus Planning and Consultancy for Surface Technology has strengthened its plant design team: Vincenzo Basile is a project manager in the field of plant and factory design and the point of contact for fresh and waste water technology at QUBUS. After completing his degree in Process and Environmental Engineering, Mr Basile gained several years’ experience as a project engineer specialising in utility supply and industrial wastewater treatment. He has extensive experience as a designer of deionised water systems using reverse osmosis or ion exchange, as well as wastewater treatment plants utilising chemical-physical wastewater treatment, membrane separation processes such as micro-/ultrafiltration, and evaporation technology.

Your contact for fresh water and wastewater technology: Vincenzo Basile (+49 7171 1040842. vincenzo.basile@qubus.de)

To avoid unnecessary costs and wasted time when designing or optimising a powder coating plant, and to ultimately achieve a high level of efficiency, comprehensive and meticulous planning is essential. But what is the best approach for the planner to take?

Find out more in the Post (Published in JOT 6/2021).

Your contact: Rainer Göpfrich +49 7171 1040829. rainer.goepfrich@qubus.de

It is the wide range of possibilities that presents major challenges for in-house coating operators – who are predominantly focused on mechanical engineering – when planning and implementing new coating processes. Coating process planning therefore begins with both the in-house and the customer’s product and manufacturing specifications. Existing specifications must be reviewed and checked. Generally speaking, customer specifications are similar within their respective areas of application, although there are still differences.

Read more: from the initial coating concept to a validated process here in the article (published in *besser lackieren*).

Your contacts:

Rainer Göpfrich (+49 7171 1040829. rainer.goepfrich[at]qubus.de

Jörg Bihlmaier (+49 7171 1040726, bihlmaier[at]ifo-gmbh.de)

• Review of the safety data sheet; identification and implementation of appropriate measures as set out in the safety data sheet and the associated exposure scenario.
• Information for suppliers (chemical suppliers) where new information regarding hazards or risks becomes available, or where the company’s own use of the substance or mixture is not listed in the safety data sheet.
• When using SVHCs (substances of very high concern): compliance with the requirements relating to substances of very high concern that have been included on the Candidate List (e.g. chromium VI, lead)
  
  – Check usage
  
  – Provision of information to the customer in accordance with Article 33 where the articles contain a substance of very high concern (SVHC) in a concentration exceeding 0.1 per cent by mass, and entry into the SCIP database for articles and products.
  
  
• Use of SVHCs (substances of very high concern, which have been included in Annex XIV (e.g. chromium VI))
  
  – Use only with authorisation (e.g. from a supplier or consortium)
  
  – Checking whether one’s own use is covered by the authorisation
  
  – Registration of use with ECHA (REACH-IT account)
  
  – Where necessary, notify ECHA of your own use if it is not covered by an authorisation
  
  – Reviewing the safety data sheet to ensure it covers the specific use within the company (conditions of use in the exposure scenario)
  
  – If the use is not covered, then a chemical safety report must be drawn up
  
  – Workplace exposure measurements and measurements in exhaust air and waste water (to be carried out by 18 June 2021, to be reported to ECHA by 31 December 2021) –> annually!!
  
  – Evaluation and documentation, as well as reporting the measurement results to ECHA by 31 December 2021 –> annually!!
  
  – Extension of authorisation or participation in a consortium

Your points of contact for further information:

Ulrich Mäule (+49 7171 104080. maeule@qubus.de)
Frank Schüle (+49 7171 1040817. schuele@qubus.de)

The lawful and proper storage of hazardous substances is a key prerequisite for safe and compliant operations. The paint store is used to stockpile paints, varnishes, hardeners and solvents, most of which are classified as flammable. In addition to the water law requirements of the Plant Ordinance (AwSV), key aspects of fire and explosion protection must be taken into account.

You can read the article (published in *besser lackieren*) here here.

Your contact: Frank Schüle (+49 7171 1040817, schuele[at]qubus.de)

Business owners and those responsible for machine safety in new installations are familiar with the CE marking, which has been in force since 1985. „However, it is not yet clear to many operators that this applies not only to traditional systems such as paint shops and machinery, but must also be taken into account for power-driven auxiliary equipment, load-handling devices and when carrying out conversions or extensions to systems,“ says Frank Schüle, divisional manager at Qubus GmbH.

You can read the article (published in *besser lackieren*) here here.

Your contact: Frank Schüle (+49 7171 1040817, schuele[at]qubus.de)