Pioneers to the core

After a long career in steel construction, Koos van Merksteijn turned to the application of steel coating and preservation in 1995. He developed the largest powder coating production line in Western Europe and was the first person in the Netherlands to bring this revolutionary, easily applicable technique to large steel builders and processors.

Thanks to the coatings, large steel constructions have a longer life span and a smaller maintenance requirement. The result was lower costs and more sustainable management. As a result, the demand for powder coating and other steel preservation techniques, such as wet coating and fire-resistant coatings, increased rapidly. That is how Van Merksteijn Staalcoating grew to become one of the leading steel coating companies in Europe.

Optimal construction processes require efficient logistics. Since the expansion of our premises in 2007, we have made this possible. Since then, we have had 60,000 m2 of warehouse space, 30,000 m2 of which is production space. At full production, we process up to 300 tonnes of steel per day.

Because of the space and the support during loading and unloading, a visit does not take longer than 15 minutes. This is how we relieve our customers and suppliers of as much work and expense as possible.

Due to the increasing demand for powder coating, we expanded our capacity with a new powder coating line in 2019. The new line was commissioned in 2020 and doubled our production. The new production line includes a closed oven for curing the applied powder, making our production process even more sustainable.

In order to reduce our CO² emissions, we have been working for years on making our business processes more sustainable. We are looking at more efficient energy consumption and electrification of our fleet and equipment.

Since 2021, for example, we have been using two 30-ton Kalmar forklift trucks for loading and unloading freight. The new Kalmars meet the Euro 6 standard with regard to consumption and emissions. Since 2021 we have also been using electric forklift trucks in our factory. This has significantly reduced CO² emissions in the factory and improved the working environment for our employees.

In 2022, we renovated the hall of our wet paint production. Better extraction and protection measures mean that our employees are even better protected against potentially harmful vapours and situations in which there is a risk of explosion. In this way, we are working on the safe mixing of paint, more environmentally friendly processes and better employment practices. Moreover, the renovation enables us to offer our customers even better quality.