The innovative finishing process, which allows leathers to be dried at low temperatures, using UV rays as a catalyst, will be presented in an exclusive preview at Tanning Tech, at the Milan Trade Fair from 19 to 21 September, 2023
Two important companies from the province of Vicenza united to launch an innovative and technologically highly advanced product on the market, destined to revolutionise the leather market in the coming years. The setting for the market debut will be the international Tanning Tech exhibition, scheduled to take place at the Milan Trade Fair from 19 to 21 September, 2023, with Todesco Srl of Creazzo and GSC Group Spa of Montebello Vicentino as main exhibitors. The former is a leader in the production of high-performance finishing lines used by the world’s best and most important tanneries, the latter is a chemical company that is a symbol of Italian excellence, a leader in the national tanning market and internationally renowned for its supply of chemical products for the same sector, recognised for its advanced chemical solutions and capable, flexible and fast customer service.
“At the Fair in Milan, on our stand,” announced Paolo Todesco, CEO of the Vicenza company, “we will be presenting the PURPLE system, an innovative finishing process that is the first and only one of its kind in the world, which allows leathers to be dried at low temperatures using UV rays as activators and process accelerators: more precisely, the use of ultraviolet rays represents a catalyst in the cross-linking reactions of the chemical product. PURPLE is the result of a Todesco patent filed on four continents, in the development of which the GSC Group has been joined by GSC Group, which has produced specialised chemicals”.
“The PURPLE line,” adds Adriano Serafini, CEO of the GSC Group, “is a package of extremely effective products, with very low VOC, that guarantee exceptional performance, especially when it comes to automotive leathers, for which very high friction resistance and flexibility properties are required. In addition to the basic formulation, these are customisable to customer recipes and therefore meet many specific requirements to create exclusive products”.
The official presentation in the 2023 edition of Tanning Tech, one of the world’s most important exhibitions for tanning machines, comes after more than two years of development, during which Todesco and GSC succeeded in building a very sophisticated and modern system that introduces important benefits compared to the traditional process. “The main innovations compared to the past,” adds Paolo Todesco, “have led us to eliminate temperature as a catalyst in the finishing process and to drastically reduce thermal-energy consumption in the drying phase of performance coatings. In addition, we are able to eliminate the sintering effect caused by the temperature of the grain prior to the coating phase due to previous overheating. This results in an exceptional final tactile feeling also for the preservation of the natural fibres of the leather”.
“We paid great attention to the project right from the start,” Adriano Serafini points out, “because the PURPLE system aligns with our corporate strategy of recent years. The GSC Group is establishing itself as an international player recognised for its ability to innovate and develop solutions oriented towards environmental protection in a context of social and productive welfare of the supply chain. Our chemical engineers and technicians specialised in tanning chemistry have carried out important research work alongside Todesco and the results are remarkable: PURPLE introduces improvements in the sustainability of production processes. In fact, thanks to the reduction of the drying temperature of the performance coatings to 35°C, the thermal impact in the carbon footprint decreases considerably. In addition, an excellent collaboration has been established with Todesco, which is the ideal partner because it is focused on creating systems and machinery with high added value in terms of performance, efficiency and reliability”.
“We are convinced that the official launch of the PURPLE system,” conclude Todesco and Serafini, “will represent one of the main novelties of this year’s edition of Tanning Tech, where numerous foreign operators are expected, especially from the East, some of whom were missing in previous editions due to the pandemic. On our stand we will have the opportunity, also with our staff of engineers and technicians, to provide all the necessary information”.
Paolo Todesco, Adriano Serafini
