BREAKING NEW GROUND

Getting a new product into the market can be harder than it should be ...

Once upon a time in a land down under, as part of the Australian Corrosion Association's annual conference, our Perth manager gave a talk on introducing new technologies. 

Enviropeel was relatively new, and the paper focussed on the various different ways that a new genre of product, such as corrosion-inhibiting sprayable thermoplastics, could win the trust of notoriously sceptical corrosion and coating engineers. Ten years later, there are still people who do not understand how Enviropeel works ... they may have heard of it ... but some still don't get it.

At least, with an epoxy like Alocit, engineers can recognise a coating when they see one. Why anyone would need to apply underwater may be a mystery to the uninitiated ... but a coating that is applied in a traditional way using traditional methodologies is part of their known universe. And, of course, Alocit can be tested for hardness, abrasion resistance, adhesion and all the other tests engineers know and love ... not so with Enviropeel.

The only meaningful test that Alocit and Enviropeel have in common is the test of time ... but you won't find this in the ASTM catalogue, despite the fact that it is the only test that has any real importance.

Back in Australia, the talk came to the conclusion that the best way to convince the sceptics was to show them, through a combination of case studies, trials and appropriate testing ... a lot of which is summarised on our website. The case for effectiveness has been more than adequately demonstrated but, as part of the process, it has also been necessary to develop testing methodologies that reflect the unusual properties and strengths of Enviropeel. 

Last year, after years of gathering data, another A&E manager was in Beijing delivering a paper to NACE in China about Enviropeel on this very subject. More recently, I was discussing some of the data with a colleague and he suggested we make the paper available to our readers. Obviously, this was a good idea ... so here is a link to view it.

Sorry it has taken me so long to share it with you!