Innovation that improves quality and lowers total applied cost is one of the hallmarks of the intensely competitive global automotive coatings business. Environmental and productivity demands are driving new technologies into the conservative world of automotive original equipment manufacturer (OEM) coatings.
New compact process technologies – such as the B1:B2 compact process from PPG Industries – that are water-based and improve productivity are being rapidly adopted by global OEMs.
Interest in condensing, or compacting, the automotive paint process is growing globally. The key driver for the trend is that it allows the automobile manufacturers to reduce and lean their processing footprints and increase their processing efficiency. Compact process footprints lower manufacturing costs, lower energy consumption and lower environmental emissions.
Inherent in the attainment of these benefits is the requirement that the automotive manufacturers, equipment suppliers and paint suppliers all work together to enable the automotive manufacturer to implement the necessary layout, process control and paint formulation to be successful.
In addition to compact process layouts, another global trend within the automotive coating business is the transition from solvent-based topcoat systems to water-based topcoat systems. In North America and Europe, many OEMs have already converted their assembly plants to water-based primers and basecoat layers in order to lower VOC emissions.
This trend is now expanding to Asia, especially in China, where OEMs are moving forward with water-based primer and basecoat systems.