Proceedings / 6th International Conference The coatings 2007

In most cases the success of products strongly depends on the properties of the outermost layer, which can be significantly enhanced by suitable coatings. Aiming at an international forum concerning coating applications in the field of production technique, embracing the state of the art and the future trends in coatings research and development, THe Coatings Conference was established. This Conference organized in one and a half year periods in Greece and in Germany alternately, was initiated in 1998 during the CIRP conference in Athens, by three academic Institutions: the Laboratory for Machine Tools and Manufacturing Engineering, Aristoteles University of Thessaloniki (Prof K.-D. Bouzakis) • the Laboratory for Manufacturing Technology (LFT), University of Erlangen- Nuremberg (Prof. M. Geiger) • and the Institute for Production Engineering and Machine Tools (IFW), Leibniz Universität Hannover (Prof. B. Denkena) After having held successive conferences in Thessaloniki (1999), Hannover 2001), Thessaloniki (2002), Erlangen (2004) and Kallithea of Chalkidiki(2006) the 6th THe Coatings Conference is organized again on October 25 – 26, 2007 in Hannover–Garbsen, Germany. The 6th THe Coating Conference focuses on thin hard coatings and their applications. This conference brings together professionals from industry and universities to present and discuss latest developments around hard coatings in manufacturing processes and innovative products.