Finish developed in part by Genmar, displayed on Four Winns-brand boat
MINNEAPOLIS – Recognizing the revolutionary engineering behind the VEC Shield™ finish and the wide range of possibilities for its use, attendees of the Sept. 13-16 Thermoforming Exhibition in Cincinnati awarded the show’s top honor, the People’s Choice Award, to Better Bath Components/Kinro® Composites™. The VEC Shield finish – developed over the past two and a half years through research-and-development efforts among Genmar, Kinro and additional partners – was displayed on a 2004 Four Winns®-brand boat.
“The People’s Choice Award further demonstrates that the VEC Shield finish is at the forefront of technology,” said Genmar Chairman Irwin Jacobs. “The fact that this award comes from those within the plastics industry, the people who know thermoforming and are aware of the possibilities that exist with the VEC Shield finish, makes us honored to be a recipient. Genmar’s VEC™ Technology and the VEC Shield finish illustrate our dedication to pursuing the technological innovations needed to transform the marine industry.”
Better Bath Components/Kinro Composites submitted the VEC Shield finish for the contest. Products were displayed throughout the show and attendees were able to cast their vote for the best application of thermoforming. The “blind vote” format only revealed the product developers once all votes had been cast. The VEC Shield finish won the award by a sizeable margin.
The revolutionary technology incorporates a thermoplastic shell using materials like Spartech WeatherProG™, an alloy plastic made with GE Plastics components, in conjunction with VEC Technology, Genmar’s patent-protected, closed-mold manufacturing process. The finish was first unveiled at the National Plastics Exposition last June on two of Genmar’s 2004 Four Winns-brand boats.
The VEC Shield finish provides a finish that is nonbrittle, nonwavy and fade-resistant, and it dramatically increases the gloss and finish over the present gel-coat process. Products manufactured using the VEC Shield finish can be made in a wide range of colors, including but not limited to high chroma and metallic finishes, and are scratch-, stain- and UV-resistant. Minor dings and scratches can be simply buffed away, and typical gel-coat warranty problems related to cracking, fading and clouding will be virtually eliminated.
VEC Technology, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Genmar, developed the VEC process to replace the traditional labor-intensive, open-faced molding process with a computerized, closed-mold system that manufactures complex fiberglass parts of precision thickness and strength in a fraction of the time. Today, Genmar’s VEC-built boats are being manufactured in less than one hour versus the eight to 12 hours required using industry-standard open mold process. With constant computer monitoring of more than 500 variables, VEC-manufactured parts are also environmentally cleaner, stronger and more consistent. With Genmar’s standard VEC Technology, styrene emissions during lamination are reduced by more than 90 percent. With the new VEC Shield finish, styrene emissions will be virtually eliminated.