We contacted our regular interviewee, general manager Arjan Maatkamp, with one main question in mind: ‘How is UV LED getting on in 2023?’ Arjan stands at the head of a company which is one of the few which develop, construct, and sell their systems themselves.

Second generation LED modules
Earlier this year, we spoke to Arjan Maatkamp during Domotex Hannover. DecoRad Systems were busy promoting the now much more powerful second generation LED modules. The first question was obvious. How have people received the LED modules and what can we expect in the near future?
‘In my view, these GEN 2 LED modules in combination with our own control technology are the right mix of what something can cost and where the technology stands today. The new modules have been well received and the first systems have now been installed with clients.’

‘We now offer the market the best of what we’ve ever had. Last year, what we had was fine, but this goes a step further,’ he responds promptly. ‘What you can say is that this is more or less the end of the road for some people who ran with the hype of 2017. Our interviewee is referring amongst other things to the lot of rival company Vesting. The clear catalyst of UV LED drying with hard wax oil went bankrupt in January of this year. That wasn’t only due to issues in the supply of raw materials, but also due to the emergence of lots of new vendors, who look at things from a different perspective and see different possibilities. The application of this technology goes far beyond wooden floors. You can dream up any application: displaying advertising on mobile basket ball courts, for instance.’

No longer the world’s newest wonder
In May, amongst other things, we attended the Ligna trade fair (editor’s note: This interview was recorded before the start of the show.) where DecoRad focused on finishes with UV LED.
‘It’s an interesting show because it’s so broad. It covers everything, from the wood from the tree to the finished product inclusive,’ Arjan Maatkamp replies, before he returns again to the year 2017: ‘Six years ago, drying hard wax oil with LED was introduced with loads of hype, and in those days UV LED was the latest wonder of the world.’

‘In the meantime, there are several vendors for UV LED oil and UV LED equipment, yet you can feel that clients are cautious. Why is that? Lack of knowledge of the technology and the quality of the end product. That was certainly my feeling during the first two years of the hype. Technically (a limitation in nm wavelength and Alibaba self-construction quality LED quality) and chemically (a limitation in photo-initiators) THAT WAS THE TIME to reject it, but it came anyway.’

‘Nowadays, we have to persuade clients even more of the huge gulf in quality between THEN and NOW.’

Energy-efficient choice
The time came when clients simply had to dare to make a choice between continuing to finish in the old fashioned and classic manner or jumping on board with renewal. They see that it’s perfectly possible in the DecoRad way, but entrepreneurs who have to invest are clearly more cautious.
‘If you take pricy UV LED installations, in combination with more expensive UV LED oil, entrepreneurs soon lose their enthusiasm,’ he concludes. ‘Since other UV LED manufacturers have overdimensioned UV LED modules to be sure of curing, so much energy has been pumped into those LEDs that they certainly not energy-efficient any longer.’
DecoRad gave some live demonstrations during Ligna. We displayed a complete UV LED machine which consumes 1250 watts with a line which is 40cm wide, so less than a Senseo coffee machine. Now that’s energy-efficient!

Focusing on smaller finishers
We then hear how DecoRad has opted for a clear direction, namely focusing completely on small and medium wood (parquet) finishers. And so, they are targeting wooden floor manufacturers who finish floors themselves.
‘We know we’ll see various smaller companies from Czech Republic or Poland, who finish floors in their own workshop and we want to put our LED unit on or behind their line. You can use this LED unit and switch it off whenever you want.’

‘We’ve consciously opted for those smaller enterprises because this group doesn’t have mountains of euros to invest in fully computerised lines which are six planks wide. These are companies which could simply install a LED unit such as ours on or behind their existing line. We’re much less expensive than the big boys and highly energy-efficient. We also have a high-quality automatic system which can be adjusted in height.’

Everyone has their trade.
UV LED most certainly has a great future and it deserves its place even now. With good agreements and co-operation between LED oil and LED equipment makers, I expect further refinement to this technology. And yes, there’ll certainly be some new applications, and in that respect I’m conducting talks with parties with some surprising ideas.