Coatings science, whether synthesizing polymers, formulating coatings or applying the paint formulation, always presents many problems and many different ways of approaching those problems. Some can be solved by adding something to fix the problem (the basis for the additives industry). Some can be solved by adjusting the ingredients, and some by looking deeper at the problem in a different way. These are the most elegant and often the best solutions.
The way one solves the problem is based on the person’s background and the perspective they bring to the problem. If the formulator works for an additives company, the solution is another additive. If the formulator works for a resins supplier, the solution is in modification of the resin. Sometimes the formulator reaches for the ingredient that is in front of them on the bench…the hammer that is nearest to their hand.