COATEMA
We offer the unique lab2fab concept

Over 40 years of success in mechanical engineering for coating, printing and laminating machinery.

The company’s lab2fab vision provides the basis for continuous expansion into new markets and products – and it's the main focus of all our activities for our customers.

Based on lab2fab, we are able to offer customers appropriate concepts for laboratory, pilot and production machinery to cover the entire product development and product life cycle.

The COATEMA website

Sectors in focus

Innovative research combined with specialized mechanical engineering

The benefit COATEMA offers its customers lies in the combination of innovative research, an integrated R&D centre and specialized mechanical engineering. The close interlocking of these three elements enables rapid processing and familiarization with new technologies and markets. In today’s technology markets such as renewable energies, printed electronics and sustainable packaging, COATEMA customers need integrated, innovative solutions.

Research into alternatives to silicon-based solar cells has been going on for more than 15 years, mainly focused on printed CIGS, dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) and polymer solar cells. COATEMA specializes in the roll-to-roll production of these solar cells. The company is also involved in the development of new cell types, such as perovskite solar cells.

Solar cells

Printed, flexible and organic electronics is one of the key technologies of the future: from printed circuits to flexible displays, COATEMA is one of the innovators and technology developers in this growth market. It is has pilot machines at all European development centres and is a leader in Asia with production solutions in the area of flexible displays.

Printed electronics

Coatings for the medical and pharmaceutical sector are subject to rigorous requirements due to standards such as GMP. In the pharmaceutical sector, the functionalization of surfaces using active ingredients is an important criterion. Here, COATEMA is involved in the development of laboratory, pilot and production facilities for such products as transdermal wound dressings and oral film strips.

Medicine and pharmacy

Membranes and conditioned membrane surfaces are used for a variety of applications. Water filtration or the reverse osmosis process for the extraction of drinking water from salt water can be produced on COATEMA production machines. Yet another example of the successful scaling of lab2fab solutions at COATEMA are the areas of nanofiltration and proton-conducting membranes for fuel cell applications.

Membrane

COATEMA offers solutions for the coating and impregnation of composites with thermoset systems, focusing its development on thermoplastic applications. In addition, it offers highly innovative machine concepts for the impregnation and coating of rovings, tapes and fabrics made of carbon fibres, basalt and glass fibres to meet the growing demand for prepegs.

Prepreg and composite materials

Since its foundation over 40 years ago, COATEMA has been the brand name for coating and laminating machinery for the textile industry. Much of the development work done at the COATEMA R&D centre today is dedicated to plant solutions for technical textiles with stringent requirements for special burdens for smart new textiles.

Textile

Modern battery technologies such as lithium-ion, lithium-polymer, solid state, redox flow and nickel-metal hydride require particularly efficient coating and casting processes for the anode, cathode and separators – whether single or double-sided coating, applied horizontally or vertically. COATEMA uses such materials as nickel foam, thin copper substrates, aluminium films and expanded metals.

Batteries

COATEMA has 20 years of experience and a diverse background in fuel cell technology, including close cooperation with research institutes worldwide and participation in fuel clusters such as the FCI in Aachen. As a result it has acquired expertise ranging from development to series production in the field of AFC, PEMFC, HTPEM, SOFC and MOFC fuel cells.

Fuel cells

The COATEMA machines

Laboratory machinery

Creation of product samples in A4 or roll-to-roll

COATEMA’s unique lab2fab concept starts with its laboratory machine platforms. Laboratory machines are designed for use in research and development and geared towards the development of processes and products.

Production machinery

Production machinery based on the lab2fab process

You can look forward to optimum production machines tailored precisely to your needs – based on more than 40 coating systems, optimized drying options as appropriate and process technology that meets your requirements. Production machinery is used when the required production volume calls for series production.

Pilot machinery

Pilot machines pave the way for production lines

It is only possible to master complex production processes by drawing on the knowledge gained from a pilot machine. Pilot machinery is used for the initial production of small batches and the further development of processes. Here, it is also possible to adjust most parameters during the process so as to achieve the desired series production.

Custom-made machines and single units

Scale-up processes for emerging markets and high-tech industries

In new technologies, too, standards bring about continuous improvement, resulting in a high level of project efficiency. The focus of our activity is the area of custom-made machine construction and especially scale-up processes for R2R processes in high-tech industries such as fuel cells, batteries, solar and many other high-tech applications.