Conversation between Merit van der Lee, Scientific Consultant and Team Lead, RheoCube, Amsterdam; and Dr. Ulf Stalmach, Co-Founder of the Smart Paint Factory Alliance, and with ORONTEC, Dortmund, Germany. Written by Jenny Maat, Marketing Team Lead at RheoCube.
When it comes to chemical formulations and rheology, the coatings industry has generally stood by its use of physical prototypes, or trial-and-error experimentation. While this approach has gotten the industry by so far, it’s definitely not future proof. Paint formulations may have remained similar over the years, but there’s been a dramatic increase in the special properties expected from these products. Regulations have changed with respect to ingredients and their use. The number of products available has also undergone change. For the average formulator, the coatings sector has become a lot more demanding to cater to.